LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


METLAKAHTLA 


DEDICATED  TO 
WILLIAM  DUNCAN 

THE 
HEROIC  FOUNDER 

AND 
PRESENT  HEAD 

OF  THE 
METLAKAHTLA  SETTLEMENT 


METLAKAHTLA 

A  TRUE  NARRATIVE 
OF  .  THE  .  RED  .  MAN 


•By  GEORGE  T.  B.  DAVIJ* 


Chicago: 

THE  RAM'S  HORN  COMPANY 
1904 


CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


METLAKAHTLA 

By  JULIA  A.  WILLIAM/ 

Metlakahtla!   beauteous  isle, 

On  the  broad  Pacific's  breast; 
What  hath  God  wrought?  an  holy  calm 

Where  once  was  fierce  unrest. 
In  the  dense  light  of  human  hearts 

A  glorious  Light  hath  shined — 
A  dazzling  shaft  from  Calvary's  cross 

With  love  and  mercy  twined. 
Slumber,  to  wake  no  more" 

Within  that  city's  sea-girt  wall, 
The  passions  once  untamed 

That  held  our  brethren  there  in  thrall. 
Metlakahtla!   precious  jewel 

On  the  bosom  of  the  sea, 
God  hath  made  thee  what  thou  art, 

Unto  Him  the  glory  be. 


COPYRIGHT   1904  BY  GEO   T.  B.  DAVIS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  VISIT  OF  THE  WARSHIP. 


T 


ADMIRAL    PREVOST. 


HE  British 
warship  H. 
M.  S.  Vi- 
rago was  steam- 
i  n  g  north  ward 
through  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean  near 
the  southern 
boundary  of  Alas- 
ka. The  steady 
throb  of  the  ship's 
engines  was  the 
only  sound  that 
broke  the  stillness 
of  the  beautiful 
mountainous  islands  among  which  the  ves- 
sel was  wending  its  way. 

It  was  the  year  1853,  and  several  days 
had  passed  since  the  ship  had  left  Victoria, 
five  hundred  miles  southward.  The  war- 
ship had  kept  close  to  the  Canadian  coast 
throughout  the  journey  and  was  now  near- 
ing  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  where  an 
American  schooner  had  recently  been 
plundered  and  destroyed  by  the  savage  In- 
dian inhabitants.  The  warship  had  come 
to  punish  the  offenders. 
The  commander  of  the  vessel,  Captain 
9 


10  METLAKAHTLA 

J.  C.  Prevost,  was  a  robust  Englishman 
of  middle  age,  who  was  as  thorough  a 
Christian  as  he  was  valiant  a  commander. 

After  anchoring  in  the  bay  a  searching 
investigation  of  several  days  was  made, 
but  Captain  Prevost  was  unable  to  fix  the 
guilt  upon  any  particular  tribe.  Hence,  he 
assembled  the  various  chiefs  and  gave 
them  stern  warning  of  the  power 
of  the  white  man,  telling  them  how 
easily  his  guns  could  thunder  forth  shot 
and  shell  and  destroy  every  vestige  of  the 
village.  In  his  own  mind,  Captain  Prevost 
believed  that  Edensaw,  the  head  chief  of 
the  Hydah  tribes,  was  the  guilty  person, 
but  certain  proof  being  lacking,  he  could 
take  no  steps  for  his  punishment.  Before 
leaving,  however,  he  tdok  one  step,  very 
unusual,  alas,  among  the  commanders  of 
warships.  Calling  Edensaw  to  one  side  he 
presented  him  with  a  copy '  of  the  New 
Testament,  on  the  fly-leaf  of  which  was 
written: 

"From  Captain  Prevost,  H.  M.  S.  'Satel- 
lite/ trusting  that  the  bread  thus  cast  upon 
the  waters  may  be  found  after  many  days." 

As  the  Captain  handed  the  Indian  chief  the 
volume,  little  did  he  dream  of  the  beautiful 
sequel  to  the  action  which  would  occur  a 
quarter  of  a  century  later. 

After  leaving  Queen  Charlotte  Islands, 
the  ship  kept  her  course  northward  for 
nearly  a  hundred  miles  further  until  Fort 
Simpson,  a  station  of  the  Hudson  Bay 


METLAKAHTLA  11 

Company,  was  reached.  This  trading-post 
was  a  heavily  barricaded  fort,  surrounded 
by  a  large  body  of  fierce  Tsimshean  Indians. 
So  savage  were  these  tribes  that  the  in- 
habitants of  the  fort  had  on  certain  occa- 
sions kept  sentinels  on  guard  day  and  night 
for  weeks  at  a  time  for  fear  of  an  attack  and 
wholesale  massacre.  Captain  Prevost's  visit 
to  the  fort  was  for  the  double  purpose  of 
ascertaining  whether  all  was  well  with  the 
garrison,  and  of  making  some  needed  re- 
pairs to  his  vessel. 

When  the  ship  had  dropped  anchor  the 
Commander  ordered  a  number  of  small 
boats  lowered  and,  surrounded  by  a  heavy 
guard  of  armed  marines,  he  was  rowed 
ashore  and  the  company  marched  to  Fort 
Simpson,  several  hundred  yards  distant. 
As  he  passed  through  the  long  lines  of 
fierce-looking  and  painted  Indians,  Cap- 
tain Prevost  was  struck  at  once  by  their  fine 
physique,  but  equally  impressed  by  the  de- 
graded, savage,  murderous  appearance  of 
their  faces.  He  was  filled  with  compassion 
for  these  ignorant  children  of  the  forest, 
who  knew  naught  of  love  or  peace,  or  true 
joy,  but  whose  lives  from  the  cra.dle  to  the 
grave  were  filled  with  fear  and  cruelty,  and 
hate,  and  murder.  At  this  time  no  protes- 
tant  missionary  had  ever  come  into  the 
Northland  to  tell  the  red  men  of  the  mes- 
sage from  God  contained  in  the  Bible,  and 
the  only  religion  they  knew  was  the  Devil 
Worship  taught  by  the  cruel  medicine  men. 


12  METLAKAHTLA 

Arriving  at  the  Fort,  Captain  Prevost  re- 
ceived a  hearty  welcome  from  the  garrison, 
for  they  thought  the  presence  of  the  war- 
ship would  have  a  salutary  effect  upon  the 
red  men.  For  a  number  of  days  the  ship 
remained  there  undergoing  repairs,  the 
Captain  meanwhile  improving  the  time  in 
studying  the  wild,  untamed  children  of  the 
forest.  The  more  he  saw  of  their  nature, 
bold  and  defiant  even  in  the  face  of  immi- 
nent destruction,  the  more  deeply  was  the 
conviction  borne  in  upon  his  soul  that  what 
was  needed  to  permanently  restrain  the  In- 
dians from  murder  and  pillage,  was  not  the 
presence  of  a  warship,  but  of  a  missionary 
of  the  Gospel.  He  believed  that  the  glad 
tidings  of  salvation  could  transform  even 
these  sad,  warlike  savages  into  happy, 
peaceful  Christians  and  citizens,  and  a 
great  desire  sprang  up  in  his  heart  to  be 
himself  the  means  of  giving  them  the  light. 

The  repairs  completed,  Captain  Prevost 
ordered  the  vessel  southward  to  Victoria, 
and  during  the  following  weeks  and  months, 
he  went  here  and  there  in  the  North  Pa- 
cific waters,  quelling  an  Indian  uprising  in 
one  place,  settling  an  international  dispute 
in  another,  and  in  general  preserving  the 
status  quo  in  that  far-off  region. 

But  during  all  that  time  he  did  not  forget 
the  sad,  dusky  faces  of  the  Tsimshean  In- 
dians at  Fort  Simpson.  His  desire  to  up- 
lift them  and  enlighten  their  eyes  that  they 


METLAKAHTLA  13 

might  see  the  true  glory  of  life,  grew  rather 
than  lessened  with  the  passing  months. 

At  length,  in  1856,  Captain  Prevost  was 
summoned  to  England  for  a  conference  with 
the  officials  of  the  English  navy.  While  in 
London  awaiting  assignment  to  a  new  com- 
mand the  Captain  attended  an  anniversary 
meeting  of  a  leading  missionary  organiza- 
tion. Here  he  met  Rev.  Joseph  Ridgeway, 
an  official  of  the  Church  Missionary  So- 
ciety, and  to  him  he  poured  out  the  desire 
of  his  heart  concerning  the  Indians  at  Fort 
Simpson.  Mr.  Ridgeway  was  impressed  by 
the  graphic  picture  of  the  needs  of  the  red 
men  of  the  Northland,  but  declared  there 
was  no  money  in  the  treasury  of  the  so- 
ciety to  equip  a  missionary  and  send  him 
out  to  that  far  distant  region.  However, 
he  invited  Captain  Prevost  to  write  an  ar- 
ticle on  the  land  and  the  people  of  the 
North  Pacific  coast  of  America  for  their 
periodical,  The  Church  Missionary  Intelli- 
gencer. The  Captain  gladly  accepted  the 
offer  and  wrote  an  able  article  giving  the 
history  of  the  country,  describing  its  soil, 
climate  and  products,  and  showing  what  a 
promising  field  was  open  to  the  missionary. 
He  said  in  part: 

"It  is  difficult  to  ascertain,  with  any  de- 
gree of  accuracy,  the  total  number  of  the 
native  population;  a  mean,  however,  be- 
tween the  highest  and  lowest  estimates, 
gives  60,000,  a  result  probably  not  far  from 
the  truth.  It  is  a  fact,  well  calculated  to 


14  METLAKAHTLA 

arrest  the  attention,  and  to  enlist  in  behalf 
of  the  proposed  Mission  the  active  sympa- 
thies of  every  sincere  Christian,  that  this 
vast  number  of  our  fellow-subjects  have  re- 
mained in  a  state  of  heathen  darkness  and 
complete  barbarism  ever  since  the  discovery 
and  partial  surveys  of  their  coast  by  Van- 
couver in  1792-1794;  and  that  no  effort  has 
yet  been  made  for  their  moral  or  spiritual 
improvement,  although,  during  the  last 
forty  years  a  most  lucrative  trade  has  been 
carried  on  with  them  by  our  fellow  country- 
men. We  would  most  earnestly  call  upon 
all  who  have  themselves  learned  to  value 
the  blessings  of  the  Gospel,  to  assist  in 
rolling  away  this  reproach.  The  field  is  a 
most  promising  one.  Some  naval  officers, 
who,  in  the  discharge  of  their  professional 
duties,  have  lately  visited  these  regions, 
have  been  most  favorably  impressed  with 
the  highly  intelligent  character  of  the  na- 
tives; and,  struck  by  their  manly  bearing, 
and  a  physical  appearance  fully  equal  to 
that  of  the  English,  Whom  they  also  re- 
semble in  the  fairness  of  their  complexion; 
and  having  their  compassion  excited  by 
their  total  destitution  of  Christian  and 
moral  instruction,  they  feel  it  to  be  their 
duty  to  endeavor  to  introduce  among  them 
the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  un- 
der the  conviction  that  it  would  prove  the 
surest  and  most  fruitful  source  of  social 
improvement  and  civilization,  as  well  as  of 
spiritual  blessings,  infinitely  more  valuable, 


METLAKAHTLA  15 

and  would  be  found  the  only  effectual  anti- 
dote to  the  contaminating  vices  which  a 
rapidly  increasing  trade,  especially  with 
California  and  Oregon,  is  bringing  in  its 
train." 

The  plea  of  the  Christian  Captain  met 
with  a  quick  response.  Among  the  gifts 
received  by  the  missionary  society  soon 
afterward  was  one  of  $2,500,  given  by  "Two 
Friends"  for  the  work  among  the  red  men 
described  by  Captain  Prevost. 

In  spite,  however,  of  this  gift  the  society 
hesitated  to  act.  They  had  the  money,  but 
where  was  a  suitable  man  to  send.  Thus, 
two  or  three  months  passed,  when  Captain 
Prevost  came  to  them  with  the  announce- 
ment that  he  had  been  re-appointed  to  his 
former  naval  station  on  the  North  Pacific 
coast,  and  was  to  leave  almost  immediate- 
ly in  command  of  the  warship  Satellite. 
Further,  by  the  sanction  of  the  Admiralty, 
he  was  enabled  to  offer  a  free  passage  in 
his  ship  to  whatever  missionary  they  might 
choose  to  send  to  tlie  Fort  Simpson  In- 
dians. 

Eleven  days  before  the  Satellite  was  to 
sail  on  her  journey  to  the  other  side  of 
the  globe  this  was  the  situation:  Thousands 
of  Indians  at  Fort  Simpson  needing  the 
Gospel;  $2,500.00  in  the  bank  to  send  out  a 
missionary;  a  warship  ready  to  transport 
the  messenger  of  peace;  and  yet  the  com- 
mittee unable  to  find  the  right  man  for  this 
important  missionary  undertaking. 


i6  METLAKAHTLA 

Could  they  find  a  man  and  could  he  get 
ready  to  embark  in  the  short  time  remain- 
ing, was  the  problem  that  confronted  the 
society.  On  the  tenth  day  before  the  war- 
ship was  ready  to  leave  England,  a  young 
man  then  attending  a  missionary  training 
school  was  suggested  and  his  name  ap- 
proved by  the  committee. 

Who  he  was,  how  he  boarded  the  warship 
a  few  hours  before  its  departure,  and  his 
strange  and  perilous  experiences  among  the 
red  men  of  America,  in  his  efforts  to  win 
them  to  Christ,  will  be  related  as  our  story 
proceeds. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE   ARRIVAL  AMONG   RED    MEN. 


THE    young 
man     chosen 
by   the    com- 
mittee for  the  haz- 
ardous   mission    to 
the    American    In- 
dians was  a  student 
in    the    Highbury 
Training  College  in 
London     named 
William  Duncan. 
On  the  eighth  day 
WM.  DUNCAN.  before  the  ship  was 

to  sail,  Dr.  Alford, 

the  principal,  called  young  Duncan  into 
his  study  and,  pointing  to  the  north 
coast  of  America,  asked  whether  he  would 
volunteer  to  go  there  as  a  missionary  to 
the  Indians.  The  young  man  declared  he 
had  no  objections  whatever;  that  he  was 
glad  to  go  to  whatever  place  the  Society 
should  assign  him.  Dr.  Alford  then  in- 
formed him  that  he  had  been  selected  for 
the  undertaking,  that  a  free  passage  on  the 
warship  Satellite  had  been  offered,  and  that 
he  had  only  eight  days  in  which  to  prepare 
his  outfit,  bid  farewell  to  his  relatives,  and 
reach  the  ship  at  Plymouth. 


18  METLAKAHTLA 

The  young  man  at  once  set  about  in  haste 
making  the  needed  preparations  for  his 
journey  to  the  other  side  of  the  globe, 
from  which  it  was  quite  possible  he  would 
never  return.  Just  here,  as  he  is  earnestly 
striving  to  take  advantage  of  the  generous 
offer  of  Captain  Prevost,  let  us  glance  at 
his  previous  life  and  see  how  he  came  to 
offer  himself  as  a  missionary  to  the  heathen. 

William  Duncan  was  born  in  1831,  his 
early  life  being  spent  in  Beverly,  Yorkshire. 
While  in  his  teens  he  entered  the  employ  of 
a  wholesale  house,  and  showed  such  pro- 
ficiency that  in  a  few  years  he  became  clerk 
and  traveling  salesman.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Church  of  England,  and  one  evening, 
in  company  with  another  young  man,  his 
chum,  attended  a  quarterly  missionary 
meeting.  It  was  a  rainy  night  and  there 
were  only  a  few  people  present.  Never- 
theless, the  speaker  delivered  an  earnest 
address  upon  the  condition  of  the  mission- 
ary world  at  that  time.  He  declared  there 
were  regions  that  sorely  needed  mission- 
aries; that  there  were  funds  in  hand  to 
send  out  workers,  but  the  men  and  women 
to  go  were  lacking.  These  words  made  a 
deep  impression  upon  the  mind  of  young 
Duncan.  He  asked  himself  why  he  should 
not  go,  and  decided  that  he  would  if  an 
opportunity  offered.  The  first  person  to 
whom  he  spoke  on  the  subject  was  the 
bosom  friend  with  whom  he  had  attended 
the  meeting.  He  suggested  that  they  both 


METLAKAHTLA  19 

offer  themselves  for  the  work,  and  the 
friend  consented.  But,  upon  the  young 
man's  suggesting  the  plan  to  his  mother, 
she  declared  his  going  would  be  her  death- 
blow, and  he  reluctantly  relinquished  the 
idea. 

Young  Duncan,  however,  was  not  daunt- 
ed by  his  friend's  turning  back,  and  told  his 
pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  Carr,  of  his  newly  formed 
desire.  What  was  his  surprise  when  Mr. 
Carr  turned  to  him  and  said:  "William, 
while  we  were  listening  to  that  address  I 
thought  of  you  and  prayed  in  my  heart  that 
God  would  lead  you  to  take  up  that  work." 

The  minister  wrote  at  once  to  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  recommending 
William,  and  the  result  was  that  he  was 
accepted  as  a  missionary  candidate  and 
nominated  to  attend  the  Highbury  Train- 
ing School. 

When  William  went  to  announce  his  res- 
ignation to  the  two  men  at  the  head  of  the 
wholesale  firm  he  encountered  strong  op- 
position to  his  going.  He  was  a  valuable 
young  man  and  they  wished  to  keep  him 
in  their  employ.  One  of  the  firm  said  that 
not  only  did  he  regret  Duncan's  leaving 
but  that  William  himself  would  also  regret 
it.  The  other  partner  said  he  thought  the 
missionary  cause  would  be  better  served 
by  bringing  natives  from  heathen  lands  to 
England  and  then  sending  them  back  in- 
stead of  sending  out  missionaries  to  be 
killed.  Their  opposition  did  not  alter  young 


20  METLAKAHTLA 

Duncan's  resolution  in  the  least,  but  to 
do  the  fair  thing  he  offered  to  remain  for 
six  months  longer,  until  they  could  secure 
a  suitable  man  as  his  successor. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  allotted  time  he 
resigned  his  business  duties,  and  entered 
Highbury  College  with  what  result  we  have 
noted  above. 

The  Satellite  was  to  leave  Plymouth  on 
Tuesday.  On  Monday  evening  the  young 
man  had  succeeded  in  visiting  his  nearest 
relatives  to  bid  them  a  'hasty  good-by,  had 
bade  farewell  to  the  officials  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  and  had  secured  the 
needed  outfit  for  the  long  journey.  At  8 
p.  m.  he  left  Paddington  Station,  London, 
accompanied  by  Dr.  Alford,  and  reached 
Plymouth  at  6  a.  m.  Tuesday  morning.  To- 
gether they  went  aboard  the  man-of-war, 
Satellite,  where  the  doctor  remained  some 
hours  giving  final  advice  and  encourage- 
ment to  the  young  man,  twenty-six  years  of 
age,  who  was  about  to  depart  on  such  an 
important  mission.  At  2  p.  m.,  on  the  22d 
of  December,  1856,  the  ship  steamed  out 
of  the  harbor,  and  put  to  sea  for  a  voyage 
of  nearly  twenty  thousand  miles  around 
Cape  Horn  to  the  naval  station  at  Victoria. 

As  he  stands  on  the  deck  of  the  wars'hip, 
taking  a  last  look  at  the  receding  shore  of 
England,  let  us  inspect  more  closely  the  ap- 
pearance and  character  of  this  brave  young 
man  who  is  starting  on  a  heroic  yet  ex- 
tremely hazardous  enterprise  to  the  other 


METLAKAHTLA 


21 


side  of  the  globe.  He  is  of  medium  height, 
but  firmly  and  strongly  built,  with  every 
muscle  instinct  with  life  and  energy.  His 


CLAH,    FROM     WHOM     MR.    DUNCAN     LEARNED 


face  is  beardless;  his  eyes  large,  bine,  hon- 
est and  fearless.  His  whole  countenance 
and  posture  indicate  a  young  man  of  strong 


22  METLAKAHTLA 

resolution  and  iron  will.  He  is  an  idealist, 
but  he  has  the  force  of  character  necessary 
to  transmute  his  dreams  into  realities  in 
the  face  of  obstacles  however  difficult.  Like 
Paul,  the  greatest  missionary,  he  is  not  a 
man  to  shun  dangers  and  perils  by  land  or 
sea,  but  rather  to  exult  in  them,  if  thereby 
he  can  win  men  from  darkness  to  light; 
and  many  are  the  perilous  experiences 
through  which  young  Duncan  is  destined 
to  pass  ere  he  again  sees  the  shores  of  his 
native  land. 

In  rounding  the  Cape  terrific  storms  were 
encountered  by  the  Satellite  and  on  more 
than  one  occasion  it  was  feared  the  ship 
would  sink.  But  finally  the  dangerous  re- 
gions were  passed  and  on  the  27th  of  June, 
1857,  after  a  voyage  of  over  six  months. 
Victoria  was  safely  reached. 

On  landing,  the  officials  of  the  power- 
ful Hudson  Bay  Company  informed  Mr. 
Duncan  that  the  Society  had  made  an  error 
in  appointing  him  to  Fort  Simpson,  over 
five  hundred  miles  north  of  Victoria,  as  the 
Indians  in  that  country  were  in  a  most 
barbarous  condition,  and  the  officials  of  the 
company  could  not  be  responsible  for  his 
safety.  They  advised  him  to  work  among 
the  Indians  around  Victoria,  where  he  could 
be  afforded  ample  protection.  Sir  James 
Douglass  was  then  governor  both  of  Van- 
couver Island  and  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  in  that  vicinity.  Shortly  after 
the  arrival  he  and  Captain  Prevost  walked 


METLAKAHTLA  23 

with  Mr.  Duncan  to  thie  home  of  Rev.  E. 
Cridge  of  Victoria,  discussing  the  matter. 
Sir  James  plainly  gave  the  Captain  to  un- 
derstand that  he  and  others  objected  to 
Mr.  Duncan's  proceeding  northward.  But 
the  Captain  scouted  the  idea  of  his  not  go- 
ing forward  and  declared  that  if  the  com- 
pany refused  to  let  Mr.  Duncan  proceed 
to  Fort  Simpson  that  he  would  carry  him 
back  to  England  on  his  ship. 

At  this  point  the  governor  turned  to 
Mr.  Duncan  and  said:  "As  you  are  the 
most  interested  party  I  would  like  to  see 
you  in  private  on  the  subject.  Please  come 
and  take  dinner  with  me  this  evening." 
After  dinner  the  Governor  appeared  in  a 
more  conciliatory  frame  of  mind  and  after 
stating  his  fears  that  his  life  would  be  taken, 
said:  "Do  you  still  persist  in  wishing  to  go 
northward?" 

Mr.  Duncan  replied:  "I  cannot  possibly 
entertain  any  change  in  my  plans.  I  have 
been  assigned  to  Fort  Simpson,  and  can- 
not work  elsewhere  without  first  consulting 
with  the  Society  in  London  which  would 
take  a  year'r  time.  If  you  will  permit  me 
to  go,  all  I  will  ask  of  you  and  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company  is  that  I  be  given  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Fort  until  I  can  speak  the  na- 
tive language.  Then  I  will  take  the  risk 
of  going  out  among  the  Indians  without  in- 
volving the  Company  in  any  further  re- 
sponsibility." 

Sir  James  then  very  kindly  said:   "You 


24  METLAKAHTLA 

shall  go  and  I  will  give  instructions  to  the 
Fort  to  treat  you  as  one  of  the  officers. 
The  only  condition  being  that  you  do  not 
call  the  Indians  within  the  Fort  for  any 
meeting." 

Mr.  Duncan  was  now  ready  to  proceed  at 
once  to  the  northland.  But  for  the  follow- 
ing three  months  he  was  compelled  to  re- 
main in  Victoria,  as  a  steamer  only  went 
to  the  Fort  twice  yearly:  once  in  the  Spring 
and  again  in  the  Autumn. 

In  the  latter  part  of  September  he  em- 
barked for  the  final  journey  of  five  hundred 
miles.  One  of  the  ports  where  the  ship 
called  was  Fort  Rupert,  where  there  was  a 
settlement  of  one  thousand  Indians,  and 
there  Mr.  Duncan  caught  his  first  glimpse 
of  the  savage,  ferocious  character  of  the 
northern  tribes.  It  was  a  sight  dreadful 
enough  to  make  the  heart  of  any  save  the 
most  heroic  missionary  quake  with  fear. 
Scattered  about  on  the  beach  lay  the  dead 
and  mangled  bodies  of  a  band  of  Hydah 
Indians. who  had  stopped  there  on  a  jour- 
ney homeward  a  few  days  previous,  and  had 
been  attacked  and  the  bodies  hacked  to 
pieces  by  the  resident  tribes.  All  but  two 
of  the  party  had  been  killed  and  those  were 
held  as  prisoners. 

The  arrival  at  Fort  Simpson  occurred  at 
night  when  it  was  so  dark  one  could  not 
see  his  hand  before  him.  Soon  their  com- 
ing was  heralded  throughout  the  Indian 
camp,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  beach  was 


METLAKAHTLA  25 

alive  with  excited  figures  running  hither 
and  thither  waving  fire-brands  of  welcome. 

The  following  day  Mr.  Duncan  examined 
the  Fort  and  found  it  consisted  of  dwell- 
ings, and  warehouses,  trading  stores  and 
workshops  enclosed  within  a  stockade  one 
hundred  yards  square.  The  palisade  was 
very  solid,  being  built  of  heavy  tree  trunks 
sunk  into  the  ground  and  projecting  about 
twenty  feet  upward.  At  the  corners  were 
wooden  bastions,  mounted  with  cannon.  On 
the  inside  of  the  stockade  near  the  top  a 
platform  or  gallery  had  been  constructed 
from  which  one  could  view  the  surrounding 
country,  or  fire  at  an  enemy,  and  on  which 
the  garrison  was  accustomed  to  take  daily 
exercise.  The  entire  garrison  numbered 
scarcely  more  than  twenty  persons,  while 
two  or  three  thousand  Tsimshean  Indians 
lived  nearby.  Hence  the  greatest  caution 
had  to  be  constantly  exercised  for  fear  of 
a  wholesale  massacre.  For  this  reason 
more  than  two  or  three  Indians  were  never 
admitted  into  the  Fort  at  one  time. 

Immediately,  Mr.  Duncan  set  about  to 
find  an  Indian  from  whom  he  could  learn 
the  Tsimshean  language.  He  selected  Clah, 
who  had  access  to  the  Fort,  but  who  was 
unable  to  speak  English,  and  began  with- 
out delay. 

The  evening  following  his  arrival  at  the 
Fort  Mr.  Duncan  beheld  with  his  own  eyes 
the  awful  fact  that  the  Indians  he  had  come 
so  many  thousand  miles  to  win  to  Christ 


26  METLAKAHTLA 

were  not  only  savages,  but  in  a  sense  can- 
nibals! In  the  twilight  he  was  walking  on 
the  gallery  of  the  Fort  when  he  saw  a 
slave  woman  murdered  on  the  beach  at  the 
command  of  a  chief  and  the  body  thrown 
into  the  water.  Presently  two  parties  of 
Indians  approached  the  spot,  each  headed 
by  a  naked  medicine  man,  who  performed 
wild  and  weird  motions  and  gave  forth  hor- 
rible gutteral  sounds,  and  in  every  way  en- 
deavored to  work  the  minds  of  their  follow- 
ers into  an  hysterical,  devilish  condition. 
On  reaching  the  body  it  was  torn  to  pieces 
by  the  teeth  of  the  beastly,  demoniacal 
red  men. 

Within  a  week  another  significant  event 
occurred,  calculated  to  inspire  fear  and  dis- 
couragement in  the  soul  of  any  save  a  mis- 
sionary whose  heart  was  aflame  with  love 
and  who  did  not  count  his  life  dear,  pro- 
vided he  could  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
his  Master.  In  the  near  vicinity  of  Fort 
Simpson  there  were  located  nine  tribes  of 
Tsimshean  Indians.  Each  tribe  had  its 
own  chief,  but  a  famous  medicine  man 
named  Legaic  was  the  head  chief  of  all 
the  tribes  of  the  Tsimshean  nation.  Legaic 
was  several  times  a  murderer  and  one  of  the 
most  desperate  and  wicked  Indians  on  the 
North  Pacific  Coast.  A  few  days  after  Mr. 
Duncan's  arrival  he  had,  while  partly  in- 
toxicated, been  holding  a  conference  with 
some  subordinate  chiefs.  Their  words  had 
angered  him,  and  he  departed  from  the 


METLAKAHTLA  27 

meeting  in  an  irritable  mood.  Meeting  a 
strange  Indian  from  a  neighboring  tribe 
within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  the  Fort,  he 
shot  him  down  in  cold  blood,  simply  be- 
cause he  was  feeling  disgruntled.  Then  with 
Satanic  indifference,  he  ordered  two  of  his 
men  to  go  and  fire  two  more  shots  into  the 
helpless,  wounded  Indian.  An  officer  of 
the  Fort,  walking  on  the  gallery,  had  wit- 
nessed the  chief's  devilish  deed,  and  Mr. 
Duncan  himself  saw  the  last  shots  fired  by 
the  subordinates. 

Was  Mr.  Duncan  discouraged  by  this 
appalling  outburst  of  savagery?  Not  at  all. 
But  it  was  well  that  he  did  not  know  what 
the  future  held  in  store  for  him  not  many 
months  distant  in  connection  with  this 
same  Legaic. 


CHAPTER  III. 
RESCUED    BY    PROVIDENCE. 


W 


ITH  the 
a  s  s  i  st- 
ance of 

Clah,  who  became 
warmly  attached 
to  him,  Mr.  Dun- 
can made  rapid 
progress  in  learn- 
ing the  Tsimshean 
lang  u  a  g  e.  His 
method  was  as 
follows:  Selecting 
fifteen  hundred  of 
the  commonest 
English  words 
from  the  diction- 
ary he  sought  to 
discover  from  Clah  the  Tsimshean  equiva- 
lents for  them.  Many  were  the  difficult  and 
often  amusing  experiences  which  occurred 
in  this  attempt  to  formulate  and  put  down 
in  order  for  the  first  time  the  native  tongue 
of  the  Indians.  By  patient  and  oft-repeated 
signs  he  finally  wrote  phonetically  in  Eng- 
lish 1,500  words  and  1,100  short  sentences. 
Early  in  the  year  1858,  not  long  after  Mr. 
Duncan's  arrival  at  the  Fort,  he  received  a 


PAUL    LEGAIC 


MR.   DUNCAN'S    LIFE. 


METLAKAHTLA  29 

significant  visit  from  one  of  the  Tsimshean 
Indians. 

The  native  said  to  him:  "What  do  you 
mean  by  1858?" 

Mr.  Duncan  informed  him  that  1858  rep- 
resented the  number  of  years  that  had  pass- 
ed since  Christ  came  to  earth  with  the  mes- 
sage of  salvation. 

The  Indian  then  said:  "Why  didn't  you 
tell  us  of  this  before?  Why  were  not  our 
fore-fathers  told  this?" 

To  this  pertinent  and  accusing  query  Mr. 
Dunc.an  could  make  no  reply,  for  he  real- 
ized anew  the  guilt  of  the  church  in  taking 
its  ease  for  so  many  centuries  while  thou- 
sands and  millions  of  men  and  women  and 
children,  red  and  yellow  and  black,  were 
perishing  without  the  Gospel. 

The  Indian  then  asked:  "Have  you  got 
the  Word  of  God?" 

Translated  into  English  the  Indian's 
query  meant:  "Have  you  got  a  letter  from 
God?"  Hence  Mr.  Duncan  answered: 
"Yes,  I  have  God's  letter." 

"I  want  to  see  it,"  said  the  native. 

Mr.  Duncan  went  to  get  his  Bible,  glad 
of  an  opportunity  to  impress  upon  the  In- 
dian mind  the  fact  that  he  had  brought  a 
message,  not  from  any  human  being,  but 
from  the  King  of  Kings,  the  God  of  Heav- 
en. It  had  been  rumored  throughout  the 
Indian  camp  that  the  white  missionary  had 
a  message  from  God  and  this  man  was 
eager  to  see  it  and  confirm  the  report. 


30  METLAKAHTLA 

When  Mr.  Duncan  brought  the  Bible  to 
him  he  asked:  "Is  this  the  Word?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Duncan,  "it  is." 

"The  Word  from  God?" 

"It  is." 

"Has  He  sent  it  to  us?" 

"He  has,  just  as  much  as  He  has  to  me," 
replied  Mr.  Duncan. 

"Are  you  going  to  tell  the  Indians  that?" 
he  asked. 

"I  am." 

"Good,  that  is  very  good,"  he  said,  and 
departed  to  spread  the  good  news  through- 
out the  camp. 

It  was  not  until  the  summer  of  1858,  after 
a  period  of  eight  months  of  diligent  study 
of  the  language,  that  Mr.  Duncan  ventured 
to  formally  address  the  Indians  in  their  na- 
tive tongue.  During  the  winter,  however, 
he  frequently  visited  among  them,  endeav- 
oring to  prepare  the  way  for  the  presenta- 
tion of  his  formal  message  in  Tsimshean. 
To  the  Church  Missionary  Society  in  Lon- 
don Mr.  Duncan  wrote  a  vivid  letter,  de- 
scribing his  first  general  visit  among  the  na- 
tives. Part  of  it  read  as  follows: 

"It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  give  a 
full  description  of  this,  my  first  general 
visit,  for  the  scenes  were  too  exciting  and 
too  crowded  to  admit  of  it.  I  confess  that 
cluster  after  cluster  of  these  half-naked  sav- 
ages round  their  camp-fires  was,  to  my  un- 
accustomed eyes,  very  alarming.  But  the 
reception  I  met  with  was  truly  wonderful 


METLAKAHTLA  31 

and  encouraging.  On  entering  a  house  I 
was  saluted  by  one,  two  or  three  of  the 
principal  persons  with  'Clah-how-yah,' 
which  is  the  complimentary  term  used  in 
the  trading  jargon.  This  would  be  repeat- 
ed several  times.  Then  a  general  move- 
ment and  a  squatting  ensued,  followed  by  a 
breathless  silence,  during  which  <every  eye 
was  fixed  upon  me.  After  a  time  several 
would  begin  nodding  and  smiling,  at  the 
same  time  reiterating  in  a  low  tone,  'Ahm, 
ahm,  ah  ket,  ahm,  Shimauget'  (good,  kind 
person,  good  chief.) 

"In  some  houses  they  would  not  be  con- 
tent until  I  took  the  chief  place  near  the 
fire,  and  they  always  placed  a  mat  upon  a 
box  for  me  to  sit  upon.  My  inquiries  after 
the  sick  were  always  follow>ed  by  anxious 
looks  and  deep  sighs.  A  kind  of  solemn 
awe  would  spread  itself  at  once." 

In  the  course  of  his  visits  among  the 
people  Mr.  Duncan  carefully  noted  the  re- 
ligious ideas  which  the  Indians  had  held 
in  their  savage  condition.  As  the  result  of 
his  observations  he  found  the  following  pe- 
culiar beliefs  held  sway  over  their  minds 
and  hearts,  and  doubtless  had  done  so  for 
ages  past: 

"The  idea  they  entertain  of  God  is  that 
He  is  a  great  Chief.  They  call  Him  by  the 
same  term  as  they  do  their  chiefs,  only  add- 
ing the  word  for  above:  thus,  'shimauget'  is 
chief  and  'lakkah'  above;  and  hence  the 
name  of  God  with  them  is  Shimauget  Lak- 


32  METLAKAHTLA 

i 

Kah.  They  believe  that  the  Supreme  Be- 
ing never  dies;  that  He  takes  great  notice 
of  what  is  going  on  amongst  men,  and  is 
frequently  angry  and  punishes  offenders. 
They  do  not  know  who  is  the  author  of  the 
universe,  nor  do  they  expect  that  God  is  the 
author  of  their  own  being.  They  have  no 
fixed  ideas  about  these  things,  I  fully  be- 
lieve; still  they  frequently  appeal  to  God 
in  trouble;  they  ask  for  pity  and  deliver- 
ance. In  great  extremities  of  sickness  they 
address  God,  saying  it  is  not  good  for  them 
to  die." 

With  these  hazy  feelings  of  a  divine  Ruler 
of  the  world,  the  Indians  "felt  after  God,  if 
haply  they  might  find  Him."  But  those 
faint  glimmerings  of  religion  did  not  con- 
stitute the  Gospel,  and  in  what  a  sad  condi- 
tion they  had  left  the  red  men  of  the  forest, 
for  lo,  these  many  centuries! 

On  the  I3th  of  June,  1858,  Mr.  Duncan 
delivered  his  first  formal  message  to  the 
Tsimsheans  in  their  native  speech.  De- 
scribing the  memorable  occasion  in  his 
journal,  he  wrote: 

"Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  let  all 
creation  join  in  chorus  to  bless  His  Holy 
Name.  True  to  His  word,  'He  giveth 
power  to  the  faint,  and  to  them  that  have 
no  might  He  increaseth  strength.'  Bless 
forever  His  Holy  Name! 

"Last  week  I  finished  translating  my  first 
address  for  the  Indians.  Although  it  was 
not  entirely  to  my  satisfaction,  I  felt  it 


34  METLAKAHTLA 

would  be  wrong  to  withhold  the  message 
any  longer.  Accordingly,  I  sent  word  last 
night  (not  being  ready  before)  to  the  chiefs, 
desiring  to  use  their  houses  today  to  ad- 
dress their  people  in.  This  morning  I  set 
off,  accompanied  by  the  young  Indian 
(Clah)  whom  I  have  had  occasionally  to  as- 
sist me  in  the  language.  In  a  few  minutes 
we  arrived  at  the  first  chief's  house,  which 
I  found  all  prepared,  and  we  mustered 
about  one  hundred  souls.  This  was  the 
first  assembly  of  Indians  I  had  met.  My 
heart  quailed  greatly  before  the  work — a 
people  for  the  first  time  come  to  hear  the 
Gospel  tidings,  and  I,  the  poor  instrument, 
to  address  them  in  a  tongue  so  new  and 
different  to  me.  Oh,  those  moments!  I 
began  to  think  that  after  all  I  should  be 
obliged  to  get  Clah  to  speak  to  them,  while 
I  read  to  them  from  a  paper  in  my  hand. 
Blessed  be  God,  this  lame  resolution  was 
not  carried.  My  Indian  was  so  unnerved  at 
my  proposal  that  I  quickly  saw  I  must  do 
the  best  I  could  by  myself,  or  worse  would 
come  of  it.  I  then  told  them  to  shut  the 
door.  The  Lord  strengthened  me.  I  knelt 
down  to  crave  God's  blessing,  and  after- 
wards I  gave  them  the  address.  They  were 
all  remarkably  attentive.  At  the  conclu- 
sion I  desired  them  to  kneel  down.  They 
immediately  complied,  and  I  offered  up 
prayer  for  them  in  English.  They  preserved 
great  silence.  All  being  done,  I  bade  them 
good-by.  They  all  responded  with  seeming 


METLAKAHTLA  35 

thankfulness.  On  leaving,  I  asked  my  In- 
dian if  they  understood  me,  and  one  of  the 
chief  women  very  seriously  replied,  'Nee, 
nee/  (yes);  and  he  (Clah)  assured  me  that 
from  their  looks  he  knew  that  they  under- 
stood and  felt  it  to  be  good. 

"We  then  went  to  the  next  chief's  house, 
where  we  found  all  ready,  a  canoe-sail 
spread  for  me  to  stand  on,  and  a  mat  placed 
on  a  box  for  me  to  sit  upon.  About  150 
souls  assembled,  and  as  there  were  a  few 
of  the  Fort  people  present  I  first  gave  them 
a  short  address  in  English,  and  then  the 
one  in  Tsimshean.  All  knelt  in  prayer,  and 
were  very  attentive  as  at  the  other  place. 
This  is  the  head  chief's  house.  H.e  is  a 
very  wicked  man,  but  he  was  present,  and 
admonished  the  people  to  behave  them- 
selves during  my  stay. 

"After  this  I  went  in  succession  to  the 
other  seven  tribes,  and  addressed  them  in 
the  chiefs'  houses.  In  each  case  I  found 
the  chief  very  kind  and  attentive  in  pre- 
paring his  house  and  assembling  his  people. 
The  smallest  company  I  addressed  was 
about  fifty  souls,  and  the  largest  about  200. 
Their  obedience  to  my  request  about  kneel- 
ing was  universal,  but  in  the  house  where 
there  were  over  200  some  confusion  took 
place,  as  they  were  sitting  so  close.  How- 
ever, when  they  heard  me  begin  to  pray, 
they  were  instantly  quiet.  Thus  the  Lord 
helped  me  through.  About  800  or  900  souls 
in  all  have  heard  me  speak;  and  the  greater 


36  METLAKAHTLA 

number  of  them,  I  feel  certain,  have  under- 
stood the  message.  May  the  Lord  make 
it  the  beginning  of  great  good  for  this  piti- 
able and  long-lost  people." 

Mr.  Duncan's  next  endeavor  was  to  es- 
tablish a  school  where  instruction  would  be 
given  in  both  secular  and  spiritual  things. 
What  was  his  surprise  and  delight  when  the 
notorious  head-chief  Legaic  offered  his 
large  house  in  which  to  conduct  it  for  a 
time.  About  two  weeks  later  it  was  opened 
with  an  attendance  of  twenty-six  children  in 
the  forenoon  and  fourteen  or  fifteen  adults 
in  the  afternoon.  Everything  went  happily 
for  a  few  weeks,  until  Legaic  and  his  wife 
departed  on  a  fishing  expedition,  and  the 
house  was  closed. 

The  school  was  such  a  success,  however, 
and  was  proving  such  an  effective  means  of 
attracting  the  Indians,  that  Mr.  Duncan  set 
about  building  a  school-house  at  once.  Late 
in  the  autumn  it  was  completed  and  on  the 
igth  of  November,  the  opening  day  of 
school,  there  was  registered  an  enrollment 
of  one  hundred  and  forty  children  and  fifty 
adults.  As  the  days  and  weeks  passed  the 
•interest  grew  rather  than  lessened  and  the 
Gospel  teaching  was  making  rapid  inroads 
upon  the  heathen  ideas  and  customs. 

There  was  one  class  of  men  amongst  the 
Indians  to  whom  the  teaching  was  doubly 
displeasing;  namely,  the  medicine  men. 
They  were  the  high  priests  of  the  heathen 
religion,  and  the  spread  of  knowledge  and 


METLAKAHTLA  37 

the  Gospel  meant  the  deathblow  to  their 
calling  and  the  position  of  honor  in  which 
they  w-ere  now  held.  Four  chiefs  had  al- 
ready abandoned  their  medicine  practices 
and  were  giving  earnest  heed  to  Mr.  Dun- 
can's instruction. 

As  the  month  of  December  progressed 
the  season  drew  near  for  the  holding  of  the 
annual  medicine  rites  and  ceremonies,  which 
were  attended  by  large  numbers  of  visi- 
tors from  other  tribes  and  were  marked  by 
devilish  abominations  and  much  debauchery. 
Legaic  and  other  leading  medicine  men  held 
a  conference  and  sent  notice  to  Mr.  Duncan 
through  the  manager  of  the  Fort  that  he 
must  close  the  school  for  four  weeks  while 
the  medicine  work  was  in  progress.  He 
declared  that  such  a  course  was  impossible. 
A  little  later  he  received  word  that  the 
chiefs  would  be  content  provided  the  school 
was  closed  for  two  weeks — and  that  after- 
ward they  would  all  come  to  be  instructed 
— while  if  he  did  not  comply  with  their  re- 
quest, the  pupils  would  be  shot  as  they  came 
to  school.  Mr.  Duncan  knew  that  his  own 
life  as  well  -as  that  of  the  scholars  would  be 
in  danger  if  he  refused,  but  his  duty  in  the 
matter  was  perfectly  plain.  Like  Daniel 
of  old  he  determined  to  do  right  whether 
he  lived  or  died.  He  returned  answer  that 
he  could  not  close  the  school  a  single  day 
in-dieference  to  their  heathen  abominations; 
that  Satan  had  ruled  there  long  enough  and 
»t  was  time  his  rule  should  be  disturbed. 


38  METLAKAHTLA 

A  few  days  later,  on  the  2oth  of  Decem- 
ber, as  the  children  were  assembling  for  the 
afternoon  session  of  the  school,  Mr.  Duncan 
looked  out  of  the  door  and  saw  Legaic  ap- 
proaching, followed  by  a  motley  crowd  of 
medicine  men  dressed  in  their  fantastic 
garb.  When  they  reached  the  building,  Le- 
gaic shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice  to  the 
few  children  who  had  just  come  in,  order- 
ing them  to  hurry  home  at  once.  He  then 
entered  the  room,  followed  by  seven  or 
more  of  the  medicine  men,  and  drawing 
near  to  Mr.  Duncan,  they  tried  to  intimidate 
him  by  their  terrorizing  language  and 
frightful  appearance.  Legaic  declared  the 
school  must  be  closed  four  days,  at  least, 
or  he  would  shoot  at  the  pupils  as  they 
came  to  school;  that  if  he  was  unable  to 
stop  the  school  medicine  men  from  other 
tribes  would  shame  and  perhaps  kill  him; 
that  he  knew  how  to  kill  men  (drawing  his 
hand  across  his  throat  as  he  spoke) ;  that 
he  was  a  wicked  man  and  would  go  down 
anyway. 

God  enabled  Mr.  Duncan  to  stand  calmly 
during  the  long  harangue,  and  then  to  ad- 
dress the  intruders  with  far  more  fluency 
than  usual.  Be  was  enabled  to  tell  them 
of  their  sin  faithfully,  and  to  vindicate  his 
own  conduct.  He  declared  that  God  was 
his  Master  and  that  he  must  obey  Him 
rather  than  men;  that  the  devil  had  taught 
their  fathers  what  they  were  practising  and 


METLAKAHTLA  39 

it  was  bad;  that  he  had  come  to  tell  them 
of  God's  way  and  it  was  good. 

During  the  excited  scene,  which  lasted 
fully  an  hour,  Legaic  once  pointed  to  two 
men  standing  near  and  said  they  were  mur- 
derers as  well  as  himself,  hence  it  was  use- 
less for  them  to  go  to  school.  At  this  point 
Mr.  Duncan  broke  in,  declaring  the  Gospel 
was  for  murderers  as  well  as  others;  that 
if  they  would  repent  and  amend  they  could 
still  be  saved. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  interview,  how- 
ever, two  vile-looking  confederates  went 
and  whispered  something  into  Legaic's 
ear;  doubtless  a  taunt  that  h<e  was  afraid  to 
kill  the  missionary.  Legaic  at  once  became 
passionately  inflamed  and  drawing  near  to 
Mr.  Duncan,  gesticulated  wildly,  having  a 
knife  concealed  in  his  right  hand. 

Without  doubt,  he  was  preparing  to  mur- 
der Mr.  Duncan  at  once,  when  something 
occurred,  which  though  human,  was  also 
providential  and  miraculous,  and  showed 
that  God  still  watches  over  His  servants, 
even  as  in  the  c'ays  of  Daniel. 


CHAPTER  JV- 
PLANNING  A  MODEL  VILLAGE. 


A 


S  Legaic  ap- 
p  r  o  a  c  heel 
Mr.  Duncan 
and  was  about 
raising  his  hand 
to  slay  him,  he 
h  a  p  p  e  ned  t  o 
glance  behind 
him,  and  saw  a 
person  he  had  not 
previ  o  u  s  1  y  ob- 
served, stand  i  n  g 
behind  Mr.  Dun- 
can, silent,  yet 
gu  a  r  d  i  n  g  him 
with  eagle  eyes. 
It  was  Clah,  the  faithful  interpreter 
and  friend.  He  had  heard  of  the 
visit  of  the  medicine  men,  and  hastily  se- 
curing his  revolver  had  hurried  to  the 
school-house,  resolved  to  shoot  anyone 
who  attempted  the  life  of  the  missionary. 
He  had  entered  the  building  unobserved  by 
either  Mr.  Duncan  or  Legaic,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  latter  drew  near  to  Mr.  Dun- 
can that  he  saw  Clah  standing  behind  him. 
Legaic  knew  that  Clah's  hand,  which  was 
slipped  just  inside  his  blanket,  contained  a 
40 


MRS.   SAMUEL    MARSDEN. 


METLAKAHTLA  41 

revolver  and  that  the  moment  he  raised  his 
arm  to  kill  the  missionary,  he  would  be 
shot.  With  the  new  turn  of  affairs  Legaic 
realized  that  his  mission  was  a  failure,  and 
in  a  few  moments  sullenly  withdrew,  fol- 
lowed by  his  disappointed  confederates. 

Thus  was  Mr.  Duncan's  life  wonderfully 
preserved  and  the  Gospel  triumphant  over 
heathenism.  The  school  was  not  closed, 
but  Legaic's  hostility  continued  and  as  his 
house  stood  near  the  school  it  was  difficult 
for  the  children  to  attend.  At  this  juncture 
another  chief  proffered  the  use  of  his  house 
for  the  school,  and  it  being  in  a  less  danger- 
ous locality  the  offer  was  gladly  accepted 
and  the  scholars  transferred  to  the  new 
place  where  rapid  progress  was  made.  Mr. 
Duncan's  connection  with  Legaic  by  no 
means  terminated  with  this  incident.  Of 
his  future  career  we  shall  hear  in  detail  as 
the  narrative  progresses. 

The  first  Christmas  spent  by  Mr.  Duncan 
among  the  Tsimsheans  was  very  different 
from  his  later  ones.  However,  he  did  what 
he  could  to  make  the  day  notable,  and  to 
explain  to  the  people  its  glorious  meaning. 
In  a  letter  to  the  Missionary  Society  he 
described  the  day  in  the  following  manner: 

"Yesterday  I  told  my  scholars  to  bring 
their  friends  and  relatives  to  school  today, 
as  I  wanted  to  tell  them  something  new. 
We  numbered  out  two  hundred  souls.  I 
tried  to  make  them  understand  why  we  dis- 
tinguished this  day  from  others.  After  this 


42  METLAKAHTLA 

I  questioned  the  children  a  little  and  then 
we  sang  two  hymns,  which  we  also  trans- 
lated. While  the  hymns  were  being  sung, 
I  felt  I  must  try  to  do  something  more,  al- 
though the  language  seemed  to  defy  me.  I 
never  experienced  such  an  inward  burning 
to  speak  before,  and  therefore  I  determin- 
ed to  try  an  extemporaneous  address  in 
Tsimshean.  The  Lord  helped  me;  a  great 
stillness  prevailed,  and  I  think  a  great  deal 
was  understood  of  what  I  said.  I  told  them 
of  our  condition,  the  pity  and  love  of  God, 
the  death  of  the  Son  of  God  on  our  ac- 
count, and  the  benefits  arising  to  us  there- 
from, and  exhorted  them  to  leave  their  sins 
and  pray  to  Jesus.  On  my  enumerating  the 
sins  of  which  they  are  guilty,  I  saw  some 
look  at  each  other  with  those  significant 
looks  which,  betoken  their  assent  to  what  I 
said.  I  tried  to  impress  upon  them  the 
certain  ruin  which  awaits  them  if  they  pro- 
ceed in  their  present  vices.  Very  remark- 
ably an  illustration  corroborating  what  I 
had  said  was  before  their  eyes.  A  poor 
woman  was  taken  sick  not  four  yards  from 
where  I  stood,  and  right  before  the  eyes  of 
my  audience.  She  was  groaning  under  a 
frightful  affliction,  the  result  of  her  vices." 
During  the  ensuing  four  years  Mr.  Dun- 
can made  slow  but  steady  progress  in  in- 
structing the  people  and  wooing  them  from 
heathenism  and  savagery  to  Christianity  and 
civilization;  even  Legaic  often  attending 
school  and  listening  eagerly  with  the  rest. 


METLAKAHTLA  43 

Nor  were  his  efforts  confined  entirely  to 
the  nine  Tsimshean  tribes  surrounding 
Fort  Simpson.  Occasionally  he  made 
journeys  to  interior  tribes  who  had  never 
heard  the  story  of  the  Gospel.  It  was  on 
a  visit  of  this  character  up  the  Nass  River 
that  a  most  remarkable  incident  occurred. 
Let  us  give  Mr.  Duncan's  own  narrative  of 
the  visit  as  it  was  afterwards  related  by 
him: 

"They  had  heard  that  I  was  coming,  and 
the  chief,  in  order  to  show  his  great  delight, 
at  my  arrival,  put  up  what  they  call  a  large 
cap.  Their  cap  was  an  umbrella.  They  had 
no  idea  of  preventing  rain  from  falling  on 
their  heads  by  its  use,  but  looked  upon  it 
simply  as  a  web-footed  cap,  and  so  they 
used  it  on  state  occasions.  As  soon  as  I 
landed  I  saw  the  man  with  the  umbrella, 
and  saw  the  excitement.  He  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  this  effect:  'I  would  like  you  to 
come  into  my  house  and  I  shall  send  my 
messenger  to  tell  you  so.' 

"I  immediately  encamped  upon  the  bank 
of  the  river.  By  and  by  I  was  told  that  all 
things  were  ready  and  prepared  to  receive 
me.  I  said  to  my  little  crew — for  in  those 
days  I  took  only  boys  with  me,  being  afraid 
to  take  men,  as  they  might  kill  me  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  my  clothes — I  said, 
'What  are  they  going  to  do  when  I  go  into 
the  house?' 

"  'Dance.' 

"  Tell  them  I  did  not  come  here  to  see 


44  METLAKAHTLA 

dancing,  and  I  cannot  go  therefore.' 

"They  told  the  messenger  to  tell  the  chief 
that  I  objected  to  seeing  them  dance,  that 
I  had  come  with  a  solemn  message  to  them. 

"The  chief  replied,  Tell  the  white  chief 
he  must  come;  if  he  doesn't  come  to  me  I 
won't  go  to  hear  his  word;  but  if  he  will 
come  I  will  go  and  hear  him.' 

"That  changed  the  matter  altogether.  I 
had  a  little  consultation  with  my  boys,  and 
they  said,  'You  had  better  go;  if  you  do  not 
•go  the  chief  will  not  come  to  hear  what 
you  have  to  say.' 

"I  walked  up  to  his  house,  I  confess,  in 
a  very  grum  kind  of  a  spirit.  I  did  not  like 
to  attend  a  dance.  But  I  saw  that  I  had  to 
do  it.  I  was  very  glad  afterward  that  I 
did  go.  When  I  entered  the  house  there 
was  a  person  there  ready  to  point  out  a  seat 
for  me.  There  was  a  bear-skin  spread  over 
a  box  for  me  to  sit  on.  The  chief  had  all 
of  his  men  placed  around  in  different  por- 
tions of  the  house,  which  was  a  very  large 
one.  I  observed  that  he  had  gotten  a  large 
sail  and  used  it  for  a  curtain  in  part  of  the 
room. 

"Very  soon  I  saw  two  men  step  out.  One 
had  a  rod  in  his  hand  beating  the  floor. 
They  had  a  kind  of  theatrical  performance. 
The  old  man,  after  stamping  his  foot  and 
putting  his  rod  down  very  firmly,  said,  in 
his  own  language,  of  course,  'The  heavens 
are  changing.' 

"The   other  man  was  there  to   respond, 


METLAKAHTLA 


45 


'Yes,  so  it  seems;  the  heavens  are  chang- 
ing/ 

"A  few  little  remarks  of  this  sort  were 


made,  and  then  the  sail  was  drawn  aside 
and  out  dashed  the  chief,  dressed  in  most 
magnificent  costume,  his  head  being  com- 
pletely covered  with  feathers  and  other  or- 
naments. He  had  his  rattle  in  his  hand.  He 


46  METLAKAHTLA 

shook  it  before  my  face;  walked  up  a  little 
way  to  me  and  then  put  up  his  hand  with 
his  rattle  in  it;  he  looked  through  the  hole 
in  the  center  of  the  roof  where  the  smoke 
came  out,  and  immediately  began  a  beauti- 
ful prayer.  I  was  astonished.  This  was 
no  dance.  If  I  could  only  give  you  his 
prayer  in  his  own  beautiful  and  eloquent 
language,  you  would  be  astonished  also.  I 
can  only  give  you  the  substance  of  it: 

"'Great  Father  in  Heaven,  pity  us!  Give 
us  Thy  good  Book  to  do  us  good  and  to 
cleanse  away  our  sins!  This  Chief  (Mr. 
Duncan)  has  come  to  tell  us  about  Thee.  It 
is  good,  Great  Father,  we  want  to  hear! 
Whoever  came  to  tell  our  forefathers  Thy 
will?  No!  no!  But  this  Chief  has  pitied  us 
and  come.  He  has  Thy  Book.  We  will 
hear!  We  will  receive  Thy  Word!  We  will 
obey!' 

"When  I  heard  this  prayer  I  felt  thunder- 
struck. I  had  expected  to  be  disgusted  at 
seeing  their  heathen  abominations,  but  the 
people  sat  solemnly  during  the  ceremonies, 
even  saying  amen  to  the  prayer. 

"After  this  the  Indians  began  a  chant, 
clapping  their  hands.  It  was  an  extempora- 
neous song  and  I  listened  to  it  with  a  great 
deal  of  pleasure.  There  was  a  man  among 
them  who  extemporized  the  song  as  they 
sang  it,  verse  by  verse  as  they  wanted  it. 
The  chant  was  a  very  plaintive  one.  I 
found  the  song  was  all  about  God  having 


METLAKAHTLA  47 

sent  His  servant  and  His  messenger  to 
teach  the  Indians. 

"When  this  was  done  the  chief  turned  to 
me  and  made  a  short  speech  to  the  effect 
that  they  wanted  me  amongst  them  as  they 
wanted  God's  Word.  They  wanted  to  cast 
away  their  evil  ways  and  to  be  good." 

Mr.  Duncan  spent  the  day  visiting  a  num- 
ber of  houses,  and  invited  every  one  to  his 
tent  for  the  evening  address,  where  he  told 
them  as  much  as  possible  about  the  won- 
derful news  of  salvation. 

The  first  public  reception  of  Indian  con- 
verts into  the  church  occurred  on  the  26th 
of  July,  1861,  when  fourteen  men,  five  wom- 
en and  four  children  were  baptized  on  their 
public  profession  of  faith  in  Christ.  Others 
also  came  forward,  but  it  was  thought  best 
that  they  wait  for  a  time;  while  several  who 
believed  in  Christ  were  afraid  to  come  bold- 
ly out  for  fear  of  their  relatives. 

As  the  years  had  passed  since  Mr.  Dun- 
can began  his  work  among  the  Indians,  he 
had  realized  more  and  more  the  necessity 
of  separating  the  converts,  and  especially 
the  children  under  instruction  in  the  school, 
from  the  vices  and  immorality  and  heathen- 
ism around  Fort  Simpson.  As  early  as 
1859  he  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Missionary 
Society  in  London: 

"What  is  to  become  of  the  children  and 
young  people  under  instruction,  when  tem- 
poral necessity  compels  them  to  leave 
school?  If  they  are  permitted  to  slip  away 


48  METLAKAHTLA 

from  me  into  the  gulf  of  vice  and  misery 
which  everywhere  surrounds  them,  then  the 
fate  of  these  tribes  is  sealed,  and  the  labor 
and  money  that  has  already  been  spent  for 
their  welfare  might  as  well  have  been 
thrown  away.  The  well-thinking  part  of  the 
Indian  people  themselves  see  this,  and  are 
asking,  nay,  craving,  a  remedy.  The  head 
chief  of  one  tribe  (a  very  well-disposed  old 
man)  is  constantly  urging  this  question 
upon  me,  and  begs  that  steps  may  be  taken 
which  shall  give  the  Indians  that  are  in- 
clined, and  especially  the  children  now  be- 
ing taught,  a  chance  and  a  help  to  become 
what  good  people  desire  them  to  be." 

Gradually  the  conviction  grew  in  his  mind 
that  what  was  demanded  for  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  Indians  was  a  Christian  col- 
ony, where  peace  and  quiet  would  :  -ign, 
where  industries  would  be  taught  and  toil 
rewarded,  and  where  the  terrible  evils  of 
fire-water  would  be  unknown.  He  talked 
the  plan  over  with  his  followers  and  they 
not  only  highly  favored  it,  but  suggested 
that  the  colony  be  located  on  the  beautiful 
island  of  Metlakahtla*,  only  seventeen  miles 
distant,  where  they  and  their  forefathers 
had  lived  before  they  removed  to  Fort 
Simpson.  So  glowing  were  their  accounts 
of  the  beauty  and  suitability  of  the  island 
that  Mr.  Duncan  visited  it,  and  found  it  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  the  plan  in  every  par- 
ticular. 

*Metlakahtla  means  "Inlet  of  Kahtla." 


METLAKAHTLA  49 

Mr.  Duncan  believed  such  a  village  would 
not  only  be  an  infinite  blessing  to  the  In- 
dians themselves,  but  would  be  a  Gospel 
lighthouse,  shedding  its  radiance  through- 
out the  entire  northland.  In  describing  the 
project,  he  wrote:  "All  we  want  is  God's 
favor  and  blessing,  and  then  we  may  hope  to 
build  up  in  His  good  time,  a  model  Chris- 
tian village,  reflecting  light  and  radiating 
heat  to  all  the  spiritually  dark  and  dead 
masses  of  humanity  around  us." 

His  first  step  toward  the  actual  realiza- 
tion of  the  settlement  was  the  drawing  up 
of  a  set  of  fifteen  rules  which  all  who  joined 
the  colony  would  be  required  to  sign.  They 
were  as  follows: 

1.  To  give  up  "Ahlied"  or  Indian  devil- 

try. 

2.  To    cease    calling    in    "Shamans"    or 

medicine  men  when  sick. 

3.  To  cease  gambling. 

4.  To  cease  giving  away  their  property 

for  display. 

5.  To  cease  painting  their  faces. 

6.  To    cease    indulging    in    intoxicating 

drinks. 

7.  To  rest  on  the  Sabbath. 

8.  To   attend   religious   instruction. 

9.  To  send  their  children  to  school. 

10.  To  be  cleanly. 

11.  To  be  industrious. 

12.  To  be  peaceful. 

13.  To  be  liberal  and  honest  in  trade. 

14.  To  build  neat  houses. 


50  METLAKAHTLA 

15.  To  pay  the  village  tax. 

In  the  winter  of  1861-2  active  prepara- 
tions for  the  embarkation  to  the  new  home 
went  forward,  but  it  was  not  until  May  27th 
that  everything  was  in  readiness  for  the 
long  planned  event.  For  some  time  previ- 
ous to  the  day  of  departure  Mr.  Duncan 
devoted  himself  to  visiting  from  house  to 
house,  and  to  delivering  farewell  addresses 
to  the  tribes  in  the  homes  of  the  chiefs. 

Several  days  before  the  date  set  for  de- 
parture the  school-house  was  torn  down 
and  made  into  a  raft  on  which  ten  Indians 
went  in  advance  of  the  main  group,  pilot- 
ing the  logs  through  the  sea  seventeen  miles 
to  the  island  where  it  was  to  be  speedily  re- 
transformed  into  a  school-house. 

Finally,  the  'eventful  day  arrived  and  the 
1  arty  of  pilgrims  gathered  on  the  shore, 
ready  to  set  out  on  their  journey.  Those 
who  had  subscribed  to  the  rules  and  were 
ready  to  leave  home  and  friends  for  the 
sake  of  the  Gospel  numbered  in  all  about 
fifty  souls;  men,  women  and  children.  Six 
large  Indian  canoes  lay  at  the  water's  edge 
ready  to  receive  the  pilgrims  and  bear  them 
to  their  new  home.  A  large  company  of 
Indians  had  assembled  to  witness  the  de- 
parture and  looked  on  with  solemn  and 
earnest  faces,  many  promising  to  join  the 
settlement  in  the  near  future. 

As  the  heroic  band  entered  the  canoes 
tliey  were  filled  with  solemn  joy  at  the 
thought  of  the  Christian  community  in 


METLAKAHTLA  51 

which  they  were  going  to  dwell.  Mr.  Dun- 
can realized  fully  what  an  eventful  page  in 
the  history  of  the  Indians  was  being  turned, 
and  his  joy  was  great  when  as  the  canoev 
left  the  shore,  the  sun  which  had  been  hid 
behind  the  rain-clouds,  broke  forth  and  dis- 
closed to  view  a  beautiful  rainbow.  It  was 
a  happy  omen  as  the  pilgrims  departed  for 
their  new  home  on  th*  island  of  Metla- 
kahtla. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE   ARCADIAN   ISLE. 

THE  six  Indian 
canoes  freighted 
with  heroic  pil- 
grims had  left  Fort 
Simpson  in  the  after- 
noon and  it  soon  be- 
came evident  that  they 
could  not  reach  Metla- 
kahtla  until  late  at 
night.  Hence,  when 
they  reached  a  good 
camping  place  only  a 

DAVID     LEASK  ICW          H1^68  ^0111          tllC 

Fort,  the  canoes  were 

headed  for  the  shore,  and  soon  all  were  on 
the  beach  gathering  fuel  for  fires  and  pre- 
paring tents  and  blankets  for  the  night. 
After  supper  all  gathered  around  the  camp- 
fire  while  Mr.  Duncan  conducted  evening 
prayers.  It  was  a  beautiful  and  impressive 
sight  and  one  long  to  be  remembered,  to 
see  those  Indians,  who,  only  a  short  time 
since  were  degraded  savages,  sitting  quietly 
around  the  camp-fire  with  faces  aglow  with 
Christian  joy,  singing  praises  to  their  Cre- 
ator and  King  in  softly  flowing  Tsimshean 
accents. 

Mr.  Leask  was  for  many  years  a  leader  among  the 
Metlakahtla   Indians. 

52 


METLAKAHTLA  53 

Early  the  next  morning  they  broke  camp 
and  in  a  few  hours  reached  the  shore  of 
their  new  island  home,  where  much  event- 
ful history  was  to  occur  during  the  com- 
ing years. 

During  the  next  few  days  all  were  ac- 
tively engaged  in  selecting  sites  for  their 
homes  and  in  making  preparations  to  build. 
Each  evening  after  the  labor  of  the  day, 
they  gathered  together  on  the  beach,  like 
a  large,  happy  family,  for  prayer  and  sing- 
ing and  a  short  Scripture  address  by  Mr. 
Duncan. 

Only  four  or  five  days  after  their  arrival 
others  began  coming  from  Fort  Simpson, 
singly  and  in  groups,  while  on  the  6th  of 
June  great  excitement  was  created  by  the 
arrival  of  thirty  canoes,  bringing  three  hun- 
dred souls,  with  two  chiefs. 

Scarcely  had  the  exodus  occurred  when  a 
fearful  plague  of  small-pox  broke  out  at 
Fort  Simpson,  which  swept  away  over  five 
hundred  Indians  and  spread  up  and  down 
the  coast  carrying  death  and  desolation  in 
its  wake.  In  terror  they  fled  in  all  direc- 
tions from  the  dread  disease,  many  now 
coming  to  Metlakahtla  and  pleading  to  be 
allowed  to  join  the  colony.  Most  of  them 
were  admitted,  but  some  who  were  still 
steeped  in  heathenism  Mr.  Duncan  was 
compelled  to  refuse.  Many  of  the  new- 
comers were  infected  with  the  small-pox 
and  Mr.  Duncan  was  kept  busy  day  and 
night  tending  the  sick.  The  members  of 


54  METLAKAHTLA 

the  original  colony  were  wonderfully  pre- 
served from  the  plague,  only  five  of  them 
dying,  three  of  these  deaths  being  occa- 
sioned by  attending  sick  relatives  who  al- 
ready had  the  disease  when  they  reached 
the  island. 

The  colonists  fervently  thanked  God  for 
their  marvelous  escape  from  the  surround- 
ing destruction,  and  as  the  plague  subsided 
they  set  earnestly  to  work  to  build  up  a 
handsome  village  which  should  be  a  verita- 
ble Christian  Arcadia. 

Since  he  had  left  Victoria,  Mr.  Duncan 
had  by  no  means  been  forgotten  by  the 
governor,  Sir  James  Douglas.  The  gov- 
ernor took  pains  to  converse  with  Indians 
who  had  been  under  Mr.  Duncan's  instruc- 
tion when  they  visited  Victoria,  and  was 
delighted  at  the  results  observed.  He  re- 
quested Mr.  Duncan  to  send  him  reports 
from  time  to  time  concerning  the  prog- 
ress of  the  mission. 

The  governor's  request  was  gladly  com- 
plied with  by  Mr.  Duncan,  and  in  a  report 
sent  in  the  spring  of  1863,  about  ten  months 
after  the  arrival  at  Metlakahtla,  he  wrote 
Sir  James  a  long  letter,  giving  many  in- 
teresting details  of  the  new  settlement.  A 
part  of  the  communication  was  as  follows: 

"To  many  who  have  joined  me,  the  sur- 
rendering their  national  and  heathen  cus- 
toms performed  over  the  sick — ceasing  to 
give  away,  tear  up,  or  receive  blankets, 
.etc.,  for  display,  dropping  precipitately 


METLAKAHTLA  55 

their  demoniacal  rites,  which  have  hitherto 
and  for  ages  filled  up  their  time  and  en- 
grossed all  their  care  during  the  months 
of  winter;  laying  aside  gambling,  and  ceas- 
ing to  paint  their  faces — had  been  like  cut- 
ting off  the  right  hand  and  plucking  out  the 
right  eye.  Yet  I  am  thankful  to  tell  you 
that  these  sacrifices  have  been  made;  and 
had  your  Excellency  heard  the  speeches 
made  by  the  chiefs  and  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal men  at  our  Christmas  evening  meet- 
ing, alluding  to  these  and  other  matters, 
you  would,  I  am  sure,  have  rejoiced. 

"On  New  Year's  Day  the  male  adult  set- 
tlers came  cheerfully  forward  to  pay  the 
village  tax,  which  I  had  previously  pro- 
posed to  levy  yearly,  viz.,  one  blanket,  or 
two  and  one  half  dollars  of  such  as  have  at- 
tained manhood,  and  one  shirt,  or  one  dol- 
lar of  such  as  are  approaching  manhood. 
Out  of  130  amenable  we  had  only  ten  de- 
faulters and  these  were  excused  on  account 
of  poverty.  Our  revenue  for  this  year  thus 
gathered  amounts  to  one  green,  one  blue, 
and  ninety-four  white  blankets,  one  pair  of 
white  trousers,  one  dressed  elk  skin,  seven- 
teen shirts  and  seven  dollars.  The  half  of 
this  property  I  propose  to  divide  among 
the  three  chiefs  who  are  with  us,  in  recog- 
nition of  stated  services  which  they  will  be 
required  to  render  to  the  settlement,  and 
the  other  half  to  spend  in  public  works. 

"As  to  our  government;  all  disputes  and 
difficulties  are  settled  by  myself  and  ten 


56  METLAKAHTLA 

constables;  but  I  occasionally  call  in  the 
chiefs,  and  intend  to  do  so  more  and  more, 
and  when  they  become  sufficiently  instruct- 
ed, trustworthy  and  influential,  I  shall  leave 
civil  matters  in  their  hands.  I  find  the  In- 
dians very  obedient,  and  comparatively  easy 
to  manage,  since  I  allow  no  intoxicating 
drinks  to  come  into  our  village.  Though 
we  are  continually  hearing  of  the  drunken 
festivals  of  the  surrounding  tribes  I  am 
happy  to  tell  you  that  Metlakahtla  has  not 
yet  witnessed  a  case  of  drunkenness  since 
we  have  settled  here — a  period  of  ten 
months.  Still,  not  all  with  me  are  true 
men.  Some  few,  on  their  visits  to  Fort 
Simpson,  have  fallen;  and  two,  whose  cases 
were  clearly  proved  and  admitted  of  no  ex- 
tenuation, I  have  banished  from  our  midst. 

"On  Sabbath  days  labor  is  laid  aside,  a 
solemn  quiet  presides  and  the  best  clothing 
is  in  use.  Scarcely  a  soul  remains  away 
from  divine  service,  excepting  the  sick  and 
their  nurses.  Evening  family  devotions  are 
common  to  almost  every  house,  and,  better 
than  all,  I  have  a  hope  that  many  have  ex- 
perienced a  real  change  of  heart.  To  God 
be  all  the  praise  and  glory. 

"We  have  succeeded  in  erecting  a  strong 
and  useful  building,  capable  of  containing 
at  least  600  people,  which  we  use  as  church 
and  school.  We  held  our  first  meeting  in 
this  building  on  the  night  it  was  finished, 
the  2Oth  of  December  last.  I  have  about 
one  hundred  children  who  attend  morn- 


58  METLAKAHTLA 

ing  and  afternoon  and  about  one  hundred 
adults  (often  more)  in  the  evening.  I  oc- 
cupy the  principal  part  of  the  time  in  the 
adult  school,  in  giving  simple  lectures  on 
geography,  astronomy,  natural  history  and 
morals.  These  lectures  the  Indians  greatly 
prize. 

"Trusting,  by  God's  blessing  upon  us,  we 
shall  go  on  improving  and  continue  to  merit 
your  Excellency's  favor  and  good-will, 

"I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  with  warm- 
est gratitude, 

"Your  Excellency's  humble  and  obedient 
servant,  "W.  Duncan." 

A  few  weeks  later,  the  Bishop  of  Colum- 
bia visited  Metlakahtla  to  baptize  those  who 
were  ready  to  receive  the  sacred  rite,  Mr. 
Duncan  being  a  lay,  not  a  clerical  mission- 
ary. Two  full  days  were  spent  in  examin- 
ing the  candidates,  of  which  the  Bishop 
wrote: 

"We  were  met  by  the  whole  village,  who 
stood  on  the  bank,  in  a  long  line — as  fine 
a  set  of  men  and  as  well  dressed  as  could 
anywhere  be  seen  where  men  live  by  their 
daily  toil — certainly  no  country  village  in 
England  would  turn  out  so  well-clad  an  as- 
semblage. 

"At  three  the  bell  was  rung  and  almost 
instantly  the  whole  population  were  wend- 
ing their  way  to  church.  There  were 
hymns  and  prayers  in  Tsimshean.  They 
repeated  the  answers  to  a  catechism  in 
Tsimshean.  I  addresser!  them  and  offer- 


METLAKAHTLA  59 

ed  prayers  in  English,  which  were  interpre- 
ted by  Mr.  Duncan. 

"Converts  from  heathenism  can  fully  real- 
ize renunciation  of  the  world,  the  flesh  and 
the  devil.  Aniong  these  Indians  pomp  of 
display,  the  lying  craft  of  malicious  magic, 
as  well  as  all  sins  of  the  flesh,  are  particu- 
larly glaring,  and  closely  connected  with 
heathenism.  So  are  the  truths  of  the  Creed 
in  strongest  contrast  to  the  dark  and  mis- 
erable fables  of  their  forefathers  and  heart- 
ily can  they  pledge  themselves  to  keep  the 
holy  will  of  God,  all  the  days  of  their  life, 
seeing  in  Him  a  loving  and  true  Father,  of 
whom  now  so  lately  but  so  gladly,  they  have 
learned  to  know. 

"I  first  drew  forth  their  views  of  the  ne- 
cessity of  repentance,  its  details  and  their 
own  personal  acquaintance  with  it.  I  then 
questioned  them  as  to  the  Three  Persons 
of  the  Trinity,  and  the  special  work  of 
each  with  allusion  to  the  Judgment,  and  the 
state  of  the  soul  hereafter,  inquiring  into 
their  private  devotion  to  learn  their  person- 
al application  of  repentance  and  faith.  I 
questioned  their  anxiety  for  baptism,  and 
demanded  proof  of  their  resolution  to  keep 
the  will  of  God  for  their  guide,  to  speak 
of  God,  and  to  labor  for  God's  way,  all 
their  life  long.  I  sought  to  find  out  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  first  be- 
came seriously  inclined,  and  to  trace  their 
steps  of  trial  and  grace.  Admitting  them 
to  the  promise  of  baptism,  I  exhorted  them 


60  METLAKAHTLA 

to  prayer  and  devotion,  as  a  special  prep- 
aration until  the  time  came. 

"A  simple  table,  covered  with  a  white 
cloth,  upon  which  stood  three  hand-basins 
of  water,  served  for  the  font,  and  I  offi- 
ciated in  a  surplice.  Thus  there  was  noth- 
ing to  impress  the  senses,  no  color,  nor 
ornament,  nor  church  decoration,  nor  music, 
The  solemnity  of  the  scene  was  produced  by 
the  earnest  sincerity  and  serious  purpose 
with  which  these  children  of  the  far  West 
were  prepared  to  offer  themselves  to  God, 
and  to  renounce  forever  the  hateful  sins 
and  cruel  deeds  of  their  heathenism;  and  the 
solemn  stillness  was  broken  only  by  the 
breath  of  prayer.  The  responses  were  made 
with  earnestness  and  decision.  Not  an  in- 
dividual was  there,  whose  lips  did  not  ut- 
ter in  his  'own  expressive  tongue,  his 
hearty  readiness  to  believe  and  to  serve 
God." 

The  Christian  experiences  of  the  candi- 
dates for  baptism  were  most  touching  and 
impressive. 

Clah,  who  had  saved  Mr.  Duncan's  life 
and  was  his  first  friend,  testified  as  follows: 

"I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  live  a  Chris- 
tian. Must  try  to  put  away  all  my  sins.  I 
believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God, 
who  died  for  our  sins.  God  is  good  to  us 
and  made  us.  God  gives  us  His  Spirit  to 
make  us  clean  and  happy.  I  pray  to  God 
to  clean  my  heart,  and  wipe  out  my  sin 
from  God's  book.  It  will  be  worse  for  us 


METLAKAHTLA  61 

H  we  fall  away  after  we  have  begun."  Clah's 
wife  was  also  baptized  with  him. 

The  chieftainess  of  the  Nish-Kahs,  named 
Nishah-Kigh,  whose  sorrow  was  great 
when  she  first  heard  the  message  of  salva- 
tion and  who  had  been  seeking  God  for 
five  years,  said: 

"I  must  leave  all  evil  ways.  I  feel  myself 
a  sinner  in  God's  sight.  I  believe  in  God, 
the  Father  Almighty,  and  in  Jesus  Christ, 
who  died  for  our  sins.  God  sends  down 
His  Spirit  to  make  us  good.  Jesus  is  in 
Heaven,  and  is  writing  our  names  in  God's 
Book.  We  must  stand  before  God  and  be 
judged  by  Him.  I  feel  God's  Word  is 
truth.  Have  been  for  some  time  accustom- 
ed regularly  to  pray." 

A  young  man,  Kappigh  Kumlee  by  name, 
thirty  years  of  age,  who  had  been  a  sorcer- 
er, but  found  no  satisfaction  in  the  calling, 
said: 

"I  have  given  up  the  lucrative  position 
of  sorcerer.  Been  offered  bribes  to  prac- 
tice my  art  secretly.  I  have  left  all  my  mis- 
taken ways.  My  eyes  have  been  bored  (en- 
lightened.) 1  cry  every  night  when  I  re- 
member my  sins.  The  great  Father  Al- 
mighty sees  everything.  If  I  go  up  to  the 
mountain  He  sees  me.  Jesus  died  for  our 
sins  upon  the  cross  to  carry  our  sins  away." 

Kappigh  Ktimlee's  wife  was  baptized  with 
him,  and  all  their  family  having  renounced 
heathenism,  they  were  doubly  united  in  the 
bonds  of  Christian  fellowship. 


62  METLAKAHTLA 

A  chief  seventy  years  of  age  named 
Neeash-Lakah-Noosh,  when  asked  if  he  de- 
sired to  become  a  Christian,  said: 

"For  that  object  I  came  here  with  my 
people.  I  have  put  away  all  lying  ways, 
which  I  had  long  followed.  I  have  trusted 
in  God.  We  want  the  Spirit  of  God.  Jesus 
came  to  save  us.  He  compensated  for  our 
sins.  Our  Father  made  us  and  loved  us 
because  we  are  His  work.  He  wishes  to 
see  us  with  Him  because  He  loves  us." 
When  asked  about  the  judgment  he  said: 
"The  blood  of  Jesus  will  free  those  who 
believe  from  condemnation." 

Vilmauksh,  a  young  man  who  rescued 
three  of  his  relatives  from  the  darkness  of 
heathenism,  said: 

"I  believe  in  Jesus  as  my  Savior,  who 
died  to  compensate  for  my  sins  to  God." 

One,  named  Neeash-ah-Pootk,  who  was 
converted  by  losing  ten  of  his  relatives  by 
the  plague  of  small-pox,  said: 

"I  have  long  followed  sins  which  made 
God  angry.  I  have  put  away  sin,  but  if  I 
am  ever  so  ignorant  in  my  endeavors  I  will 
persevere.  Used  to  be  a  great  drunkard. 
Have  given  up  magic  and  display  of  prop- 
erty. Felt  God  last  summer.  We  have 
turned  back  to  our  great  Father.  He  see 
all;  His  Spirit  is  with  us.  The  blood  of 
Jesus  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.  How  happy 
the  angels  will  be  to  see  us  good,  and  how 
they  will  cry  if  we  are  sinful!  At  the  last 
God  will  divide  us.  Lost  ten  relatives  by 


METLAKAHTLA  63 

the  small-pox  last  year,  and  it  opened  my 
eyes  to  my  sins.  God's  hand  was  strong 
to  cut  down  sinners." 

A  beautiful  testimony  was  given  by 
Kahlp,  only  thirty-five  years  of  age,  who 
had  had  a  sad  and  checkered  career.  When 
a  young  man  he  was  captured  by  the  Hy- 
dab  Indians.  Later  he  was  brought  back 
and  sold  to  his  old  chief,  who  kept  him  in 
slavery  several  years.  The  chief's  son  final- 
ly sold  him  to  his  own  friends,  who  set 
him  free.  He  said: 

"I  shall  fight  against  my  sins.  My  heart 
truly  says  I  will  turn  from  sin  to  God.  God 
is  perfectly  right  in  His  ways.  Whosoever 
believes  in  God,  the  Father,  the  Spirit 
of  God  lives 'in  his  heart.  Those  who  die 
in  their  sin  go  to  darkness  and  to  fire.  I 
will  fear  God  as  long  as  I  live.  I  pray  for 
God's  Spirit  and  light  to  lead  my  own 
spirit  along  the  path  to  Himself  when  I 
die.  Was  a  slave;  was  poor  in  spirit,  and 
was  drawn  to  cry  to  God  to  take  my  heart." 

One  of  the  most  touching  experiences  of 
all  was  that  given  by  a  boy  sixteen  years  of 
age,  named  Kisheeso.  It  shows  how,  when 
the  Gospel  really  fills  one's  heart,  one  is 
willing  to  forsake  all  for  Christ.  This  boy 
left  his  heathen  home,  and  came  by  himself 
in  a  tiny  canoe  across  the  sea  to  join  the 
Christian  people.  He  said: 

"A  duty  to  give  up  the  ways  of  the 
Tsimsheans.  Was  very  wicked  when  quite 
young.  Will  try  to  put  away  my  sin.  I  pray 


METLAKAHTLA 


night  and  morning  for  God  to  pity  and  to 
pardon  me." 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  touching  tes- 
timonies given  by  these  Indians  who  had 
for  centuries  been  steeped  in  heathenism, 
but  had  at  last  seen  a  great  light,  had  come 
into  possession  of  the  pearl  of  great  price, 
without  which  life  is  a  dreary  waste,  but 
with  which  it  is  a  foretaste  of  the  Heaven 
hereafter. 

The  most  notable  of  all  the  Indians  bap- 
tized by  the  Bishop  was  one  with  whom  we 
have  already  become  acquainted;  who  from 
being  a  persecutor  was  marvelously  trans- 
formed into  a  saint.  The  story  of  his  con- 
version and  valiant  career  as  a  Christian 
rea-'s  like  a  new  chapter  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles. 


A 


AN    INDIAN    BOY 


CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  LEGAIC 

FEW  months  after 
the  settlement 
had  been  estab- 
lished at  Metlakahtla  a 
thrill  of  surprise  and 
delight  ran  throughout 
the  village  at  the  an- 
nouncement that  a  no- 
table recruit  had  arrived 
at  the  island,  determin- 
ed to  sign  the  rules  and 
cast  in  his  lot  with 
RT  the  Christian  party.  The 
newcomer  v;as  none  other  than  Legaic, 
head-chief,  murderer  and  medicine  man, 
who  had  so  nearly  succeeded  in  taking  Mr. 
Duncan's  life.  The  Spirit  of  God  had  long 
been  working  upon  his  heart  until  he  had 
come  to  loathe  heathenism  and  to  long  for 
the  peace  and  joy  which  he  saw  were  the 
outcome  of  the  Christian  life.  To  openly 
join  the  Christian  party  at  Metlakahtla, 
however,  would  be  to  make  a  tremendous 
sacrifice,  for  it  would  mean  the  practical 
renunciation  of  the  headship  of  the  Tsim- 
shean  nation.  But  the  victory  over  self  was 
won  and  Legaic  had  finally  arrived  at  the 
village  ready  to  subscribe  to  the  fifteen 
65 


66  METLAKAHTLA 

rules.  Accompanying  Legaic  were  his  wife 
and  daughter,  and  Mr.  Duncan  and  the  na- 
tives gave  them  a  warm  and  hearty  wel- 
come. 

Legaic  began  building  a  beautiful  home, 
but  was  often  interrupted  by  messengers 
from  Fort  Simpson  urging  him  to  return 
and  resume  his  position  over  all  the  Tsim- 
shean  tribes.  The  temptations  were  so 
strong  and  constant  that  Legaic  finally 
weakened,  and  gathering  the  Metlakahtla 
Indians  together  on  the  beach,  he  told  them 
that  he  could  hold  out  no  longer,  but  must 
return  to  his  old  life.  He  said  he  knew  it 
was  a  wrong  step  and  he  might  perish  as 
the  result,  but  that  he  was  being  pulled 
away  by  influences  stronger  than  he  was 
able  to  resist.  In  deep  sorrow,  amid  falling 
tears,  he  shook  hands  with  each  one  pres- 
ent, then  turned  and  entered  his  canoe  and 
paddled  silently  away. 

As  he  disappeared  from  sight,  do  you 
think  the  Indians  went  back  to  their  homes 
criticising  him  and  discussing  the  weakness 
of  human  nature,  as  most  white  people 
would  have  done  under  similar  circum- 
stances? Not  at  all.  They  knelt  on  the 
beach  and  held  a  prayer-meeting,  imploring 
God  to  check  Legaic  in  his  backward 
course  and  to  restore  him  to  his  right  mind. 

The  subject  of  their  prayers  paddled  rap- 
idly toward  Fort  Simpson  until  night  came 
on  and  he  was  compelled  to  put  the  canoe 
ashore.  He  wrapped  himself  in  his  blank- 


METLAKAHTLA  67 

et  and  lay  down  to  sleep,  but  sleep  came  not 
to  his  eyes.  Instead,  he  tossed  and  turned 
in  awful  unrest  of  soul.  The  Spirit  of  God 
was  wrestling  mightily  with  him  even  as 
with  Jacob  of  old.  Finally,  the  torture  be- 
came unbearable.  Such  misery  overwhelm- 
ed him  as  words  cannot  describe,  until  the 
Spirit  conquered  and  kneeling  in  the  dark- 
ness he  repented  of  his  evil,  and  weepingly 
besought  God  for  pardon.  Next  morning 
he  turned  his  canoe  about  and  once  more 
appeared  at  Metlakahtla,  this  time  a  thor- 
oughly saved  man.  Saul,  the  persecutor, 
had  become  Paul,  the  apostle.  In  afterward 
describing  the  agony  he  endured  on  that 
memorable  occasion,  Legaic  declared: 

"A  hundred  deaths  would  not  equal  the 
sufferings  of  that  night." 

Six  months  later  a  visitor  to  Metlakahtla 
wrote  as  follows  of  Legaic  and  his  family: 

"I  paid  a  visit  to  the  wife  of  the  chief, 
Paul  Legaic.  He  it  was  who  nearly  took 
Mr.  Duncan's  life  at  the  head  of  the  medi- 
cine band  attacking  the  school.  They  were 
both  baptized  by  the  Bishop  last  April.  Le- 
gaic was  the  wealthiest  chief  of  the  Tsim- 
sheans  at  Fort  Simpson.  He  has  lost 
everything — has  had  to  give  up  everything 
by  his  conversion  to  Christianity.  It  was 
with  many  of  them  literally  a  'forsaking  of 
all  things  to  follow  Christ.' 

"His  house  is  the  nicest  and  best  situated 
in  the  village.  A  very  little  labor  and  ex- 
pense in  the  way  of  interior  fittings  would 


68  METLAKAHTLA 

make  it  quite  comfortable.  He  and  his  wife 
have  one  child  only,  a  young  girl  of  four- 
teen. She  is  a  modest  looking,  pleasing 
child — very  intelligent — one  of  the  first  class 
in  the  school.  She  does  not  look  like  one 
who  has  ever  been  'possessed  with  a  devil'; 
and  yet  this  is  the  child  whom,  three  years 
ago,  her  teacher  saw  naked  in  the  midst  of" 
a  howling  band,  tearing  and  devouring  the 
bleeding  dog.  How  changed!  She  who  'had 
the  unclean  spirit'  now  sits  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus,  clothed  and  in  her  right  mind." 

Not  many  months  later  Mr.  Duncan  paid 
a  visit  to  Fort  Simpson  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  heathen  Indians,  who  still  re- 
mained there.  He  was  accompanied  by  two 
natives,  Clah  and  Paul  Legaic.  On  their 
return,  in  a  letter  to  the  Missionary  So- 
ciety, Mr.  Duncan  related  a  remarkable  in- 
cident which  occurred  during  the  trip.  He 
said:  "I  have  just  returned  from  a  visit  to 
Fort  Simpson.  I  went  to  proclaim  the  Gos- 
pel once  more  to  the  poor,  unfeeling  heath- 
en there.  I  laid  the  Gospel  again  distinctly 
before  them,  and  they  seemed  much  affected. 
The  most  pleasing  circumstance  of  all,  and 
which  I  was  not  prepared  to  expect,  was, 
that  Paul  Legaic  and  Clah  (the  one  in 
times  past  a  formidable  enemy  and  opposer, 
and  the  other  one  among  the  first  to  hear 
and  greet  the  Gospel),  sat  by  me,  one  on 
either  side.  After  I  had  finished  my  ad- 
dress on  each  occasion,  they  got  up  and 
spoke,  and  spoke  well. 


70  METLAKAHTLA 

"Legaic  completely  shamed  and  con- 
founded an  old  man  who,  in  replying  to  my 
address,  had  said  that  I  had  come  too  late 
to  do  him  and  other  old  people  good;  that, 
had  I  come  when  the  first  white  traders 
came,  the  Tsimsheans  had  long  since  been 
good;  but  they  had  been  allowed  to  grow 
up  in  sin;  they  had  seen  nothing  in  the 
first  whites  who  came  amongst  them  to  un- 
settle them  in  their  old  habits,  but  those 
had  rather  added  to  them  fresh  sin,  and 
now  their  sins  were  deep  laid,  they  (he  and 
the  other  old  people),  could  not  change. 
Legaic  interrupted  him  and  said:  'I  am  a 
chief,  a  Tsimshean  chief.  You  know  I  have 
been  bad,  very  bad,  as  bad  as  anyone  here. 
I  have  grown  up  and  grown  old  in  sin,  but 
God  has  changed  my  heart  and  He  can 
change  yours.  Think  not  to  excuse  your- 
self in 'your  sins  by  saying  you  are  too  old 
and  too  bad  to  mend.  Nothing  is  impossi- 
ble with  God.  Come  to  God;  try  His  way; 
He  can  save  you.' 

"He  then  exhorted  all  to  taste  God's 
way,  to  give  their  hearts  to  Him,  and  to 
leave  all  their  sins;  and  then  endeavored  to 
show  them  what  they  had  to  expect  if  they 
did  so — not  temporal  good,  not  health,  long 
life,  nor  ease,  nor  wealth,  but  God's  favor 
here  and  happiness  with  God  after  death." 

Legaic  had  been  known  far  and  wide 
along  the  coast,  and  the  traders  who  heard 
of  his  conversion  and  transformation  cotil  1 
scarcely  believe  it.  As  time  went  on  he  be- 


METLAKAHTLA  ft 

came  of  immense  service  to  Mr.  Duncan  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  work,  and  came  to 
be  called  "Mr.  Duncan's  Grand  Vizier." 

For  seven  years  Legaic  played  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  life  of  the  settlement,  eager 
to  assist  in  every  undertaking  for  the  bet- 
terment of  his  fellows,  and  humbly  .earning 
his  living  as  a  carpenter.  In  1869  he  made 
a  journey  up  the  Nass  River,  and  on  reach- 
ing Fort  Simpson  on  his  way  home,  was 
taken  suddenly  ill.  He  at  once  dispatched 
a  messenger  to  Mr.  Duncan,  bearing  this 
note: 

"Dear  Sir: — I  want  to  see  you.  I  always 
remember  you  in  my  mind.  I  shall  be  very 
sorry  if  I  shall  not  see  you  before  I  go 
away,  because  you  showed  me  the  ladder 
that  reaches  to  Heaven,  and  I  am  on  that 
ladder  now.  I  have  nothing  to  trouble  me. 
I  only  want  to  see  you." 

Mr.  Duncan  wished  greatly  to  go  at  once 
to  the  bedside  of  Legaic,  but  his  duties  at 
Metlakahtla  would  not  permit  him  to  leave, 
for  a  peculiar  epidemic  was  raging  just 
then  and  there  were  a  score  of  sick  people 
on  the  island  whom  he  was  attending  day 
and  night. 

A  second  and  third  messenger  followed 
in  quick  succession,  but  still  Mr.  Duncan 
could  not  leave.  Then  came  the  sad  tidings 
of  the  death  of  the  famous  chieftain,  ac- 
companied by  the  following  lines,  which 
were  still  unfinished  when  the  death  angel 
bore  his  soul  to  the  long  home  above: 


^2  METLAKAHTLA 

"My  Dear  Sir: — This  is  my  last  letter, 
to  say  I  am  very  happy.  I  am  going  to  rest 
from  trouble,  trial  and  temptation.  I  do 
not  feel  afraid  to  meet  my  God.  In  my 
painful  body  I  always  remember  the  words 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"- 

Here  the  letter  ended  abruptly,  and  in 
this  triumphant  manner  ended  the  life  of 
the  Apostle  Paul  of  the  Tsimshean  Indians. 
He  was  a  modern  miracle  of  grace,  a  strik- 
ing example  of  the  power  of  Christ's  blood 
to  wash  away  the  darkest  sins  and  to  trans- 
form men  from  darkest  sinners  into  saints. 
*  *  * 

During  the  years  from  1863  to  1869  the 
spiritual  progress  of  the  settlement  had 
gone  on  apace.  In  1868  the  Bishop  of  Co- 
lumbia paid  a  second  visit  to  Metlakahtla 
and  baptized  sixty-five  adults,  of  whom  he 
wrote:  "I  truly  believe  that  most  of  these 
are  sincere  and  intelligent  believers  in 
Christ,  as  worthy  converts  from  heathenism 
as  havje  ever  been  known  in  the  history  of 
the  church." 

In  the  autumn  of  the  following  year  Mr. 
Cridge,  then  Dean  of  Victoria,  baptized  98 
adults  and  18  Indian  children. 

The  desire  of  Mr.  Duncan  that  the  island 
should  be  a  beacon  of  Gospel  light  to  the 
Indians  of  all  the  Northland  was  being  hap- 
pily fulfilled.  Wherever  the  Metlakahtla 
Indians  went  on  their  fishing,  trading  and 
hunting  expeditions,  they  carried  with  them 


METLAKAHTLA  73 

the   Gospel   message   and   proclaimed   it   at 
every  opportunity. 

On  one  occasion  a  party  of  Metlakahtla 
people  visited  the  Chilkat  Indians,  who 
lived  on  the  Alaskan  coast,  500  to  600  miles 


to  the  north.  So  impressed  were  these 
northern  Indians  with  the  wonderful  tales 
they  heard  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel  and 
of  the  material  progress  at  Metlakahtla, 
that  they  decided  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  island 


74  METLAKAHTLA 

to  see  the  man  who  had  accomplished  such 
marvels.  A  delegation  came  down  the  coast 
in  their  handsome  canoes,  and  as  they  near- 
ed  the  shore  they  put  on  their  finest  apparel 
and  barbaric  ornaments  to  suitably  impress 
the  people  with  their  importance.  On  land- 
ing, they  approached  in  solemn  state,  and 
Mr.  Duncan  was  advised  to  dress  in  his 
best  clothes,  as  the  savages  might  despise 
him  if  he  appeared  in  rough  garments.  He, 
however,  was  engaged  in  some  important 
work  which  he  could  not  drop  just  then. 

The  Chilkats  marched  through  the  village 
well-nigh  struck  dumb  with  astonishment 
at  what  they  beheH;  the  beautiful  buildings, 
the  strange  industries,  the  civilized  clothing 
of  the  Metlakahtlans. 

Finally,  Mr.  Duncan  left  his  work,  just 
as  he  was,  and  hastened  to  greet  the  visit- 
ors. As  he  drew  near  and  was  pointed  out 
to  the  Chilkats,  they  looked  over  and  be- 
yond him  and  declared  they  could  not  see 
him.  When  he  cordially  welcomed  them 
they  said  scarcely  a  word  beyond  the  form- 
al syllables  of  recognition,  so  disappointed 
were  they. 

Mr.  Duncan  escorted  them  to  his  house, 
and  there  their  pent-up  astonishment  gave 
way,  and  they  exclaimed: 

"Surely,  you  cannot  be  the  man!  Why, 
we  expected  to  see  a  great  and  powerful 
giant,  gifted  in  magic,  with  enormous  eyes 
that  could  look  right  through  us  and  read 
our  thoughts!  No,  it  is  impossible!  How 


METLAKAHTLA  75 

could  you  tame  the  wild  and  ferocious 
Tsimsheans,  who  were  always  urging  war, 
and  were  feared  throughout  the  whole 
coast?  It  was  only  a  few  years  ago  that  all 
this  country  was  a  streak  of  blood.  Now  we 
see  nothing  but  white  eagle's  down  (their 
emblem  of  peace  and  amity.)  We  can  hard- 
ly believe  our  own  eyes  when  we  see  these 
fine  houses  and  find  the  Tsimsheans  have 
become  wise  like  white  men!  They  tell  us 
that  you  have  God's  Book  and  that  you 
have  taught  them  to  read  it;  we  wish  to 
see  it." 

Mr.  Duncan  then  brought  out  a  Bible  and 
placed  it  before  them.  That  sacred  book, 
he  declared,  contained  the  Word  of  God, 
the  Message  of  the  Great  King,  the  Way 
of  Life  Everlasting.  It  was  only  because 
the  Metlakahtla  Indians  had  obeyed  the 
words  of  that  Book  that  they  had  built  such 
a  beautiful  city. 

Each  of  the  Chilkat  delegation  then  went 
forward  and  reverently  touched  the  Bible, 
exclaiming,  "Ahm,  Ahm" — "It  is  good,  it  is 
good." 

For  several  days  the  delegation  remained 
r>t  Metlakahtla  inspecting  the  truly  wonder- 
ful results,  which  ha  !  been  achieved  by  the 
Metlakahtlans  during  the  few  short  years 
of  their  residence. 

As  the  years  passe  1,  Metlakahtla  became 
not  only  a  Gospel  beacon,  but  a  great  light, 
radiating  law  and  order  throughout  all  the 
surrounding  country.  Mr.  Duncan  was  ap- 


76  METLAKAHTLA 

pointed  a  magistrate  by  the  Canadian  Gov- 
ernment, with  jurisdiction  up  and  down  the 
coast  for  hundreds  of  miles.  In  the  enforce- 
ment of  his  duties,  chief  among  which  was 
the  suppression  of  illegal  liquor  selling, 
many  thrilling  and  perilous  experiences 
were  encountered,  some  of  which  will  next 
l>e  related. 


INTERIOR    OF   NEW   CHURCH    AT    NEW    METLAKAHTLA. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
FIGHTING    AGAINST    FIRE-WATER. 


0 


NE  of  the 
first  steps 
taken  b  y 
Mr.  Duncan  on 
his  arrival  at  Met- 
lakahtla  had  been 
the  appointment 
of  a  body  of  In- 
dian constables  to 
maintain  order. 
Although  he  an- 
ticipated no  trou- 
ble, yet  he  deem- 
ed it  wise  to  take 

A    TYPICAL    INDIAN    G.RL.  tittlC      by     tllC      fOrC- 

lock,  remember- 
ing that  many  who  had  signed  the  fifteen 
rules  had  had  very  little  training,  and  had 
not  yet  fully  surrendered  themselves  to 
Christ. 

By  the  year  1866  there  were  twenty  of 
these  constables,  "as  fine  a  set  of  young 
men  as  you  would  wish  to  see — the  very 
pick  of  the  Christians."  The  Indians  gr^at 
ly  enjoyed  their  distinction  as  guardians  of 
the  law,  and  to  be  admitted  into  the  force 
was  esteemed  the  highest  honor  that  could 
be  conferred  upon  a  stalwart  young  man. 

77 


78  METLAKAMTLA 

In  his  duties  as  magistrate  and  justice  of 
the  peace  along  the  Alaskan  and  Canadian 
coasts,  Mr.  Duncan  found  these  constables 
indispensable. 

At  this  period,  as  today,  it  was  against 
the  law  to  sell  liquor,  or  fire-water,  to  any 
Indian.  However,  wicked  white  men  and 
Indians  constantly  attempted  to  sell  it  in 
secret,  though  they  well  knew  that  liquor 
set  the  red  men  on  fire  with  evil  and  led 
tliem  to  commit  the  most  horrible  crimes. 
The  influence  of  intoxicating  drinks  on  white 
men  is  sufficiently  terrible,  but  on  the  In- 
dians it  is  often  two-fold  worse. 

One  of  the  saddest  incidents  in  connec- 
tion with  his  duties  as  magistrate  was  the 
following,  which  Mr.  Duncan  reported  to 
the  Canadian  government  in  1865: 

"The  Indian  camps  about  us  are  deluged 
with  fire-water,  and,  of  course,  every  kind 
of  madness  is  rife. 

"It  is  just  because  our  village  makes  a 
stand  against  the  universal  tide  of  disorder 
that  we  are  being  threatened  on  every  side. 

"In  July  last  I  apprised  his  Excellency, 
the  Governor,  that  we  had  in  the  spring 
seized  a  quantity  of  liquor,  which  a  party  of 
Kitahmaht  Indians  brought  here  for  sale. 

"In  revenge  for  the  loss  of  their  liquor  (I 
3m  sorry  to  inform  you)  these  Indians,  in 
the  summer,  stole  a  little  boy  belonging  to 
this  place,  while  Jie  was  away  with  his 
parents  at  a  fishery  on  the  Skeona  River. 
And.  horrible  to  write,  the  poor  little  fel- 


METLAKAHTLA  79 

low  was  literally  worried  -to  death,  being 
torn  to  pieces  by  the  mouths  of  a  set  of 
cannibals  at  a  great  feast  they  had  made. 

"This  atrocious  deed  would  have  met 
with  summary  vengeance  from  the  relatives 
of  the  boy  had  it  happened  a  few  years  ago. 
In  this  case,  however,  though  highly  exas- 
perated, they  would  not  allow  themselves 
to  do  anything  until  they  had  seen  me.  In 
order  to  prevent  blood  being  shed  at  ran- 
dom, I  ordered  them  to  wait  till  the  arrival 
of  a  ship  of  war,  when  I  promised  to  refer 
the  matter  to  the  captain,  and  hoped  they 
would  have  justice  done  them  in  a  civilized 
way. 

"Last  week,  however,  an  Indian,  (uncle 
to  the  unfortunate  boy,  but  not  a  Metla- 
kahtla  man),  arrived  here  from  Victoria, 
where  he  had  been  living  for  the  last  two 
years  and  a  half.  On  his  learning  of  the 
Kitahmaht  atrocity,  it  seems  'he  secretly 
resolved  to  take  the  law  in  his  own  hands, 
and  for  that  purpose  proceeded  two  or 
three  days  ago  to  Fort  Simpson,  where  a 
party  of  Kitahmaht  Indians  had  recently 
arrived. 

"This  morning  at  two  o'clock,  I  was 
awakened  and  informed  that  a  Kitahmaht 
Indian  had  fallen  a  victim  to  this  man's  re- 
venge, and  that  great  excitement  was  oc- 
casioned at  Fort  Simpson.  Nor  is  it  known 
who  will  be  the  next  to  fall,  to  feed  the 
stream  of  blood  which  has  commenced  to 


80  METLAKAHTLA 

flow,  but  every  Indian  around  me  is  in 
fear  for  his  life." 

Mr.  Duncan  and  his  heroic  band  of  con- 
stables performed  valiant  service  in  ridding 
the  coast  of  the  illegal  and  infernal  liquor 
traffic,  and  in  nearly  every  case  without 
loss  of  life.  On  one  occasion,  however, 
one  Indian  was  killed  in  the  attempt  to 
capture  a  sloop,  manned  by  white  men, 
which  was  smuggling  in  liquor  to  be  sold  to 
the  Indian  camps.  Mr.  Duncan,  hearing  of 
the  presence  of  this  vessel  in  the  'neighbor- 
hood, sent  several  Indians  with  a  warrant 
for  the  arrest  of  the  captain.  The  result 
of  the  encounter  and  the  series  of  events 
following  were  thus  related  by  Mr.  Duncan: 

"The  sad  result  was  that  the  five  Indians 
serving  the  warrant  were  fired  upon  by  the 
three  white  men  on  board  the  sloop,  one 
being  killed  on  the  spot,  three  be- 
ing severely  wounded.  The  sloop  got 
away  and  it  was  not  till  the  following  day 
that  the  Indian  unhurt  returned  to  the  set- 
tlement, bringing  his  three  wounded  com- 
panions in  a  canoe.  Unfortunately,  at  the 
time,  I  had  very  few  people  left  in  the  vil- 
lage, so  that  we  were  unable  to  follow  the 
murderers  while  within  a  reasonable  dis- 
tance of  us.  After  I  had  done  all  and  the 
best  I  could  for  the  wounded  men,  I  de- 
termined to  run  down  to  Victoria,  it  being 
unsafe  from  the  unsettled  state  of  the  coast 
to  send  the  Indians  alone. 

"On  the  25th  of  August  I  started  for  Vic- 


82  METLAKAHTLA 

toria  in  a  small  boat,  and  on  the  5th  of 
September,  by  seven  a.  m.  I  was  in  Nan- 
aimi,  the  nearest  white  settlement,  having 
been  brought  by  a  gracious  God  safely 
through  many  perils  on  the  sea  and  perils 
by  the  heathen. 

"I  need  scarcely  say  that,  as  soon  as  pos 
sible  I  communicated  the  shocking  tidings 
to  the  Governor  of  each  colony,  to  Admiral 
Denman,  and  to  all  our  friends.  All  deeply 
sympathized  with  us;  and  Governor  Sey- 
mour, of  British  Columbia,  lost  not  a  mo- 
ment of  time  till  all  the  needful  despatches 
were  written,  and  forwarded  to  the  two 
neighboring  governments,  Russian  and 
American,  and  to  the  Admiral  of  the  station, 
calling  upon  all  to  do  their  utmost  to  seize 
the  murderers  and  hand  them  over  to  jus- 
tice. The  Governor  also  engaged  a  doctor 
to  visit  the  wounded  men,  and  Admiral 
Denman  sent  up  H.  M.  S.  'Grappler'  with 
the  doctor  and  myself  on  board  to  the  set- 
tlement. 

"I  cannot  express  to  you  the  anxiety  I 
felt  while  away  and  how  restless  I  was  to 
return  to  the  sick  men.  But  God  was  better 
to  me  than  my  fears.  We  arrived  on  the 
4th  instant  at  Metlakahtla  and  to  my  great 
relief  I  found  the  wounded  men  doing  well, 
and  all  the  settlement  going  on  prosperous- 
ly. I  called  a  meeting  of  the  village  on  the 
evening  of  our  arrival,  to  return  thanks  to 
Almighty  God,  that  He  had  remembered  us 
in  our  affliction.  In  my  addresses  both  be- 


METLAKAHTLA  83 

fore  going  to  Victoria  and  since  my  return 
I  'have  been  greatly  helped  in  opening  to 
the  Indians  the  passages  and  truths  from 
the  Scripture  which  this  late  dispensation  of 
Providence  illustrated;  and  I  have  been 
shown  by  unmistakable  signs  that  this  se- 
vere chastisement  with  which  it  has  pleased 
God  to  visit  us,  will  be  productive  of  great 
good  to  us. 

"It  would  take  too  long  to  detail  to  you 
the  series  of  Indian  laws  of  revenge  and 
compensation  which  this  sad  occurrence 
and  its  sequences  have  revived,  met,  defeat- 
ed and  dispersed  forever;  and  how  the 
Christian  laws  on  these  matters  have  been 
put  forward  in  strong  contrast,  approved, 
magnified,  and  made  to  triumph;  and  how 
for  the  first  time  a  calamity  which  would 
have  called  forth  only  savage  fire  and'  re- 
lentless fury  in  the  Indian  as  heathen,  has 
only  called  forth  patient  endurance  and  law- 
ful retaliation  in  the  Indian  as  Christian." 

Among  the  scores  of  persons  brought  to 
justice  by  Mr.  Duncan  and  his  constable  a 
notable  case  was  that  of  Peter  Gargotitch 
who,  on  account  of  a  grudge  against  Mr. 
Duncan,  had  boasted  in  Victoria  that  he 
would  make  the  Metlakahtla  Indians  drunk. 

Some  weeks  later  the  Indians  reported 
that  there  was  a  white  man  at  Inverness, 
ten  miles  distant  from  Metlakahtla,  selling 
liquor  contrary  to  law.  Mr.  Duncan  told 
his  constables  to  find  out  definitely  the  facts 
in  the  case  and  report  to  him.  Accordingly 


84  METLAKAHTLA 

two  Indians  went  to  Inverness  to  gather 
evidence.  While  one  went  into  the  man's 
tent  and  bought  some  liquor  in  a  bottle, 
the  other  looked  through  a  hole  in  the  tent 
n-  order  to  testify  as  a  witness.  As  soon 
as  th-ey  reported  to  Mr.  Duncan  he  sent  a 
white  man  then  staying  on  the  island  at  the 
head  of  several  constables  to  arrest  the  of- 
fender. When  the  party  reached  Inverness 
with  the  warrant  the  liquor  seller  drew  a 
icvolver,  and  brandishing  it  in  their  faces, 
declared  he  would  shoot  the  man  who  at- 
tempted to  serve  the  warrant  upon  him. 
The  white  man,  at  the  head  of  the  consta- 
bles, did  not  wish  to  risk  his  life,  so  he 
returned  to  Mr.  Duncan  with  the  warrant 
unserved.  Mr.  Duncan  declared  that  on  no 
account  must  the  offender  be  allowed  to 
escape.  He  asked  the  man  if  he  would 
make  another  attempt  at  capture,  if  it  were 
made  certain  that  his  life  would  not  be  in 
danger.  He  consented  and  Mr.  Duncan 
completed  his  plans  without  delay. 

Very-  early  the  next  morning,  a  number 
of  large  canoes  left  Metlakahtla,  filled  with 
forty  Indians,  all  fully  armed,  with  the  white 
man  at  their  head.  When  they  reached  In- 
verness they  found  that  the  liquor  dealer 
had  loaded  all  his  kegs  into  a  canoe  and  set 
off  up  the  river,  accompanied  by  two  com- 
panions. The  Indians  at  once  started  in 
pursuit.  After  going  a  few  miles  they  saw 
the  fugitives  in  their  canoe  paddling  for 
dear  life.  When  it  was  seen  that  the  In- 


METLAKAHTLA  85 

dians  would  soon  overtake  them  the  canoe 
was  headed  for  the  shore  and  beached, 
wit'hi  the  liquor  still  in  it,  while  the  three 
men  took  to  the  woods.  They  knew  that 
escape  was  impossible,  for  the  forest  was 
well-nigh  impenetrable,  and  behind  them 
were  forty  fleet-footed  Indians.  Hence, 
they  ran  only  a  few  rods  and  hid  in  the 
bush.  As  the  pursuing  canoes  came  oppo- 
site the  place  where  the  leader  was  hid  the 
officer  with  the  warrant  shouted  out  that 
he  wished  to  see  him.  The  leader  stepped 
boldly  out,  prepared  as  before  to  defy  his 
captors.  The  officer  then  shouted  that  he 
placed  him  under  arrest  and  ordered  him  to 
hold  up  his  hands  at  once  or  he  would  be  a 
dead  man.  At  the  same  instant  the  rifles 
of  the  forty  Indians  standing  in  the  ca- 
noes were  leveled  at  the  dealer  with  orders 
to  fire  if  he  offered  the  least  resistance. 
The  man  saw  he  was  caught  and  at  once 
held  his  hands  high  above  his  head. 

The  warrant  was  served  and  the  three 
men,  with  the  canoe  and  liquor,  were 
brought  to  Metlakahtla.  As  the  leader  was 
brought  before  Mr.  Duncan,  who  should 
it  prove  to  be  but  Peter  Gorgotitch,  who 
had  threatened  to  make  the  Metlakahtla 
Indians  drunk?  He  was  fined  $500,  which  he 
succeeded  in  borrowing  and  paying,  and  he 
left  the  Island  a  sadder  but  wiser  man.  The 
circumstances  of  the  arrest  did  not  allow 
Mr.  Duncan  to  confiscate  Gorgotitch's 
twenty-three  kegs  of  liquor,  each  contain- 


S6  METLAKAHTLA 

ing  ten  gallons.  A  few  weeks  later,  how- 
ever, about  half  of  it  was  stolen,  and  Gor- 
gotitch  returned  to  Victoria  burdened  by 
debt  and  in  a  pitiable  condition.  For  sever- 
al years  he  went  here  and  there,  until  news 
reached  Mr.  Duncan  that  he  had  been  killed 
in  British  Columbia.  The  activity  of  Mr. 
Duncan  and  his  constables  in  enforcing  the 
law  became  more  and  more  feared  by  the 
smugglers  and  liquor  sellers  until  by  1876 
the  illegal  traffic  had  almost  entirely  ceased. 

During  the  eight  years  following  the  ar- 
rival of  the  pilgrims  at  Metlakahtla  in  1862 
great  material  progress  had  been  made. 
Between  one  hundred  and  two  hundred 
houses  had  been  built,  almost  every  one  hav- 
ing a  neat  garden  attached.  A  large  gener- 
al store  had  been  establishe  1,  which  was 
patronized  not  only  by  the  Metlakahtla  In- 
dians, but  by  men  from  surrounding  camps 
who  were  thus  brought  into  contact  with 
Christian  influences.  A  court  house  and 
commodious  school  house  had  been  erected 
and  several  industries  started,  including  a 
soap-house,  blacksmith  shop,  and  by  no 
means  least,  a  saw-mill  run  by  water  power. 
W'hen  one  old  Indian  heard  that  Mr.  Dun- 
can intended  to  make  water  saw  wood,  he 
exclaimed: 

"If  it  is  true  that  Mr.  Duncan  can  make 
water  saw  wood,  then  I  will  see  it  and  die." 

In  1870  Mr.  Duncan  paid  a  visit  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  procured  machinery  for  new 
industries  and  spent  several  weeks  learning 


METLAKAHTLA  87 

the  arts  of  weaving,  rope-making,  twine- 
spinning  and  brush-making.  In  addition, 
he  acquired  the  gamut  of  each  instrument 
in  a  band  of  twenty-one  pieces,  which  was 
presented  to  him  for  the  settlement.  On 
his  return  journey  he  spent  nearly  three 
months  in  Victoria,  reaching  Metlakahtla 
once  more  in  February,  1871,  after  a  year's 
absence.  Describing  the  first  evening  after 
his  arrival,  Mr.  Duncan  wrote: 

"At  night,  after  visiting  among  the  sick,  I 
sat  down  with  about  fifty  for  a  general 
talk.  I  gave  them  the  special  messages 
from  Christian  friends  which  I  had  down  in 
my  note-book,  told  them  how  much  we  were 
prayed  for  by  many  Christians  in  England, 
and  scanned  over  the  principal  events  of 
my  voyage  and  doings  in  England.  We  sat 
till  midnight,  but  even  then  the  village  was 
lighted  up,  and  the  people  all  waiting  to 
hear  from  the  favored  fifty,  what  I  bad 
communicated.  Many  did  not  go  to  bed  at 
all,  but  sat  up  all  night  talking  over  what 
they  had  heard." 

As  may  be  seen  from  this  royal  welcome 
accorded  to  Mr.  Duncan,  and  from  events 
shortly  to  be  narrated,  the  Tsimshean  In- 
dians were  far  from  being  a  stolid,  unemo- 
tional race.  At  times  they  fairly  overflowed 
with  emotion  and  excitement,  and  no  peo- 
ple enjoyed  holidays  and  festal  occasions 
more  than  they.  At  this  period  there  oc- 
curred two  notable  celebrations  which  were 
red  letter  days  in  the  history  of  the  settle- 
ment. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
GALA  DAYS  ON  THE  ISLAND. 

THE  island  of  Metlakahtla  being  in 
Canadian  territory  one  of  the  days 
most  elaborately  celebrated  by  the 
Indians  was  Queen  Victoria's  birthday. 
On  one  occasion  the  date  occurred  when  a 
British  warship,  "The  Sparrow-Hawk,"  was 
anchored  in  the  bay  off  the  village.  The 
Bishop  of  Columbia  had  come  on  the  ship 
to  Metlakahtla  to  receive  fresh  converts 
into  the  church,  and  he  and  the  officers  of 
the  vessel  joined  heartily  in  the  effort  to 
make  the  day  one  long  to  be  remembered. 

The  day  dawned  bright  and  beautiful  and 
at  an  early  hour  a  party  of  sailors  rowed 
ashore  to  decorate  the  mission  house  and 
bastion  with  flags  of  all  nations. 

The  proceedings  of  the  early  part  of  the 
day  were  spiritual,  seventeen  children  be- 
ing baptized  in  the  house  of  God.  Later,  a 
distribution  of  small  gifts  took  place  among 
140  nicely  dressed  Indian  children. 

On  the  stroke  of  twelve  o'clock  a  royal 
salute  of  twenty-one  guns  thundered  from 
the  ship,  and  the  special  exercises  of  the 
occasion  began.  There  were  sports  and 
games  of  all  sorts  which  were  engaged  in 
most  heartily  and  joyously  by  young  and 
old.  There  were  foot  races,  sack  races, 


METLAKAHTLA  89 

etc.,  with  such  games  as  blind  man's  buff, 
and  a  review  of  the  village  constables.  The 
most  exciting  feature  of  the  afternoon  was 
the  canoe  race.  The  course  was  two  miles 
long  around  the  island.  Five  large  canoes 
entered  for  the  contest,  eight  or  nine  stal- 
wart young  Indians  being  seated  in  each. 
Beneath  the  deep,  swift  strokes  of  the  pad- 
dles the  canoes  shot  forward  like  birds,  and 
the  race  was  as  beautiful  as  it  was  exciting. 

In  the  evening  a  public  meeting  was  held 
when  a  number  of  the  officers  of  the  "Spar- 
row-Hawk" addressed  the  Indians,  and  sev- 
eral of  the  Metlakahtla  leaders  made  brief 
but  eloquent  replies.  A  few  of  the  short 
speeches  made  by  the  Indians  were  report- 
ed as  follows: 

Abraham  Kemskah: — "Chiefs,  I  will  say 
a  little.  How  were  we  to  hear  when  we 
were  young,  what  we  now  hear?  And,  be- 
ing old  and  long  fixed  in  sin,  how  are  we 
to  obey?  We  are  like  the  canoe  going 
against  the  tide  which  is  too  strong  for  it; 
we  struggle,  but  in  spite  of  our  efforts  we 
are  carried  out  to  sea.  Again,  we  are  like 
a  youth  watching  a  skilled  artisan  at  work; 
he  strives  to  imitate  his  work  but  fails;  so 
we:  we  try  to  follow  God's  way,  but  how 
far  we  fall  short.  Still  we  are  encouraged 
to  persevere.  We  feel  we  are  nearing  the 
shore;  we  are  coming  nearer  the  hand  of 
God,  near  peace.  We  must  look  neither 
to  the  right  nor  left,  but  look  straight  on 
and  persevere." 


00  METLAKAHTLA 

Richard  Wilson: — "Chiefs,  as  we  have 
now  heard,  so  do  ye.  Indeed,  father"  (ad- 
dressing Mr.  Duncan)  ''we  are  sinners  be- 
fore you;  we  often  make  your  voice  bad 
in  calling  us;  we  must  persevere,  we  must 
try,  though  we  are  bad;  we  are  like  the 
wedge  used  in  splitting  the  trees;  we  are 
making  the  way  for  our  children;  they  will 
be  better  than  we  are.  The  sun  does  not 
come  out  in  full  strength'  in  early  morn; 
the  gray  light  at  first  spreads  itself  over 
the  earth;  as  it  rises  the  light  increases  and 
by  and  by,  is  the  mid-day  sun.  We  shall 
die  before  we  have  reached  much,  but  we 
shall  die  expecting  our  children  to  pass  on 
beyond  us,  and  reach  the  wished-for-goal." 

Daniel  Baxter  (Neeash-ah-pootk)  :  — 
"Chiefs,  I  am  foolish,  I  am  bad,  bad  in 
ypur  sight.  What  can  our  hearts  say? 
What  shall  we  do?  We  can  only  pray  and 
persevere.  We  will  not  listen  to  voices  on 
this  side  or  that,  but  follow  on  till  we  reach 
our  Father  in  Heaven." 

Jacob  (Cheevost) : — "Chiefs,  we  have 
heard  you.  Why  should  we  try  to  mistake 
the  way  you  teach  us?  Rather  we  must 
try  to  follow  on;  though  our  feet  often 
slip,  we  must  still  try;  we  have  rocks  all 
around  us;  our  sins  are  like  the  rocks,  but 
the  rudder  of  our  canoe  is  being  held.  She 
will  not  drift  away.  We  are  all  assisting 
to  hold  the  rudder  and  keep  her  in  her 
course.  What  would  she  be  without  the 
rudder?  Soon,  a  wreck  upon  the  rocks;  so 


METLAKAHTLA  91 

we  must  cry  to  God  for  help  to  follow  on." 

*  *  * 

As  the  Indians  had  grown  enlightened 
under  Mr.  Duncan's  teaching,  and  had 
come  to  understand  the  full  meaning  of 
Christmas  day,  they  entered  as  heartily  as 
their  white  brothers  into  making  it  a  seas- 
on of  joy  and  gladness,  and  thus  fittingly 
celebrating  the  birthday  of  Him  who  re- 
deemed the  world  from  darkness  and  death. 
The  Christmas  season  of  1873  was  especial- 
ly notable  because  large  numbers  of  Fort 
Simpson  Indians  were  invited  to  Metla- 
kahtla  to  spend  the  period  with  their  Chris- 
tian brethren.  Of  the  series  of  events 
which  filled  up  the  days  with  happy  mem- 
ories Mr.  Duncan  sent  the  following 
graphic  report  to  the  Missionary  Society: 

"This  is  the  first  season  that  the  heathen 
customs  at  Fort  Simpson  have  been  gen- 
erally disregarded,  and  hence  we  -thought 
it  well  to  encourage  Christian  customs  in 
their  place.  To  this  end  we  decided  to  in- 
vite all  the  congregation  at  Fort  Simpson 
to  spend  the  festival  of  Christmas  with  us 
at  Metlakahtla,  that  they  might  receive  the 
benefit  of  a  series  of  special  services,  and  be 
preserved  from  falling  into  those  excesses 
which  we  had  reason  to  fear  would  follow 
should  they  spend  the  Christmas  by  them- 
selves. About  two  hundred  and  fifty  avail- 
ed themselves  of  our  invitation  and  they  ar- 
rived at  Metlakahtla  the  day  before  Christ- 
mas in  twenty-one  canoes,  which,  indeed, 


92  METLAKAHTLA 

presented  a  picture  as  they  approached  us 
with  flags  flying. 

"According  to  previous  arrangement 
they  all  clustered  to  the  market  house, 
which  we  at  present  use  for  our  church  and 
which  has  been  very  appropriately  decor- 
ated. On  our  guests  being  seated  I  gave 
them  a  short  address,  and  after  prayer,  in 
company  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Collison,  shook 
hands  with  them  all.  They  then  were  quar- 
tered around  the  village  and  a  very  ex- 
citing scene  ensued,  all  the  villagers  literal- 
ly scrambling  for  the  guests.  After  the 
scramble  several  came  running  to  me  to 
complain  that  they  had  not  succeeded  in 
securing  a  single  guest,  while  others  had 
got  more  than  their  share.  To  settle  mat- 
ters amicably,  I  had  to  send  two  consta- 
bles round  the  village  to  readjust  the  dis- 
tribution of  our  new  friends. 

"Our  Christmas  eve  was  spent  in  prac- 
ticing with  a  band  of  twenty  young  men,  a 
new  Christmas  hymn  in  Tsimshean,  which 
I  managed  to  prepare  for  the  occasion. 
About  i  .'30  on  Christmas  morning  we  re- 
assembled, when  Mr.  Collison  and  myself 
accompanied  the  twenty  waits  to  sing  round 
the  village,  carrying  the  harmonium  and 
concertina  with  us.  We  sang  in  seven  dif- 
ferent places  and  three  hymns  in  each  place. 
The  village  was  illuminated  and  the  sing- 
ing was  hearty  and  solemn.  This  was  the 
first  attempt  of  the  Indians  at  part-singing 
in  their  own  tongue, 


94  METLAKAHTLA 

"Christmas  day  was  a  great  day,  houses 
decorated  with  evergreens,  flags  flying, 
constables  and  council  passing  from  house 
to  house  in  their  uniforms,  and  greeting 
the  inmates.  Now  a  string  of  young  men, 
then  another  of  young  women,  might  be 
seen  going  into  this  house,  then  into  that; 
friends  meeting  on  the  road,  shaking  hands 
everywhere;  everybody  greeting  everybody; 
hours  occupied  with  handshaking  and  inter- 
changing good  wishes;  nobody  thinking  of 
anything  else  but  scattering  smiles  and 
greetings,  till  the  church  bell  rings,  and  all 
wend  their  way  to  meet  and  worship  God. 

"The  crowd  seemed  so  great  that  fears 
were  entertained  that  our  meeting  house 
could  not  accommodate  them.  I  at  once 
decided  that  the  children  should  assemble 
in  the  school-house  and  have  a  separate 
service.  Samuel  Marsden  kindly  volun- 
teered to  conduct  it.  Even  with  this  ar- 
rangement our  meeting  house  was  crowded 
to  excess.  There  could  not  have  been  less 
than  seven  hundred  present.  What  a 
sight!  Had  anyone  accompanied  me  to 
the  Christmas-day  services  I  held  twelve  or 
fourteen  years  ago  at  Fort  Simpson,  and 
again  on  this  occasion,  methinks  if  an  in- 
fidel lue  would  have  been  confused  and  puz- 
zled by  the  change;  but  if  a  Christian  his 
heart  must  have  leaped  for  jo(y.  The 
Tsimsheans  might  well  sing  on  this  day, 
'Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth 
peace,  good  will  towards  men,' 


METLAKAttTLA  9$ 

"The  following  day  the  young  men  en- 
gaged in  the  healthy  game  of  foot-ball,  and 
all  the  people  turned  out  to  witness  the 
sport.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Collison  and  myself 
were  present  to  encourage  them.  After 
foot-ball  a  marriage  took  place.  A  young 
woman  formerly  trained  in  the  mission- 
house,  was  married  to  a  chief.  A  marriage 
feast  was  given,  to  which  between  four  and 
five  hundred  people  were  invited. 

"On  Friday,  the  second  day  of  January, 
our  guests  departed  home.  When  ready  to 
start  the  church  bell  rang,  and  they  paddled 
their  canoes  to  the  meeting-house,  which  is 
built  upon  the  beach.  Leaving  their  ca- 
noes, thiey  reassembled  for  a  short  address 
and  a  concluding  prayer.  This  out,  again 
entering  their  canoes,  they  pushed  a  little 
from  the  beach,  a  cannon  was  fired,  and 
amid  the  ringing  cheers  of  hundreds  of 
voices  they  dashed  off,  paddling  with  all 
their  might." 

The  most  memorable  events  of  the  next 
few  years  were  the  completion  of  the  re- 
markable church,  and  the  visits  of  two  dis- 
tinguished personages,  with  one  of  whom 
our  narrative  has  already  been  concerned, 
and  whose  presence  again  in  their  midst 
filled  the  Metlakahtlans  with  the  keenest 
joy. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
TWO    NOTABLE    VISITORS. 

WITH  each  passing  year  the  settle- 
ment at  Metlakahtla  grew  strong- 
er, the  village  more  prosperous 
and  beautiful.  On  the  sixth  of  August,  1872, 
there  was  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a  mas- 
sive new  church  which  was  to  be  the  crown- 
ing glory  of  the  Christian  colony.  Al- 
though part  of  the  cost  of  the  church  was 
given  by  outsiders;  yet  the  Indians  sacri- 
ficed largely  and  often  that  the  work  might 
progress  unhindered.  A  little  over  two 
years  from  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone, 
on  Christmas  day,  1874,  the  beautiful  edi- 
fice— entirely  the  work  of  Indian  hands — 
was  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God.  It 
was  a  time  of  great  rejoicing  and  gladness. 
Describing  it,  Mr.  Duncan  said: 

"Over  seven  hundred  Indians  were  pres- 
ent at  our  opening  services.  Could  it  be 
that  this  concourse  of  well-dressed  people 
in  their  new  and  beautiful  church,  but  a 
few  years  ago  made  up  'the  fiendish  assem- 
blies at  Fort  Simpson!  Could  it  be  that 
these  voices,  now  engaged  in  solemn  pray- 
er and  thrilling  songs  of  praise  to  Almighty 
God,  are  the  very  voices  I  once  heard  yell- 
ing and  whooping  at  heathen  orgies  on  dis- 
mal winter  nights!" 

96 


METLAKAHTLA  97 

At  this  period  the  Governor-General  oi 
Canada  was  the  Earl  of  DurTerin.  He  was 
one  of  the  great  statesmen  of  the  age,  and 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  English  aristo- 
cracy. In  the  year  1876  he  made  an  ex- 
tended trip  through  the  western  part  of 
Canada,  in  ihe  course  of  which  he  planned 
to  visit  Metlakahtla,  of  which  he  had  heard 
most  glowing  accounts.  The  Indians  on 
their  part,  were  greatly  delighted  at  the 
prospect  of  receiving  a  visit  from  so  fa- 
mous a  man.  As  one  method  of  showing 
their  appreciation  of  his  coming,  they  pre- 
pared the  following  address  of  welcome, 
whicn  was  presented  to  him  on  his  arrival: 

"May  it  please  your  Excellency:  We,  the 
inhabitants  of  Metlakahtla,  of  the  Tsim- 
shean  nation  of  Indians,  desire  to  express 
our  joy  in  welcoming  your  Excellency  and 
Lady  Dufferin  to  our  village.  Under  the 
teaching  of  the  Gospel  we  have  learned  the 
Divine  command,  'Fear  God,  honor  the 
King/  and  thus  as  loyal  subjects  of  her 
Majesty,  Queen  Victoria,  we  rejoice  in  see- 
ing vou  visit  our  shores. 

"We  have  learned  to  respect  and  obey  the 
laws  of  the  Queen,  and  we  will  continue  to 
uphold  and  defend  the  same  in  our  com- 
munity and  nation. 

"We  are  still  a  weak  and  poor  people, 
only  lately  emancipated  from  the  thraldom 
of  heathenism  and  savage  customs;  but  we 
are  struggling  to  rise  and  advance  to  a 
Christian  life  and  civilization. 


98  METLAKAHTLA 

"Trusting  that  we  may  enjoy  a  share  of 
your  Excellency's  kind  and  fostering  care, 
and  under  your  administration  continue  to 
advance  in  peace  and  prosperity. 

"We  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  our- 
selves, your  Excellency's  humble  and  obed- 
ient servant, 

"For  the  Indians  of  Metlakahtla, 

"David  Leask, 
"Secretary  to  the   Native  Council." 

The  Governor-General  was  accompanied 
by  his  accomplished  wife,  Lady  Dufferin, 
and  to  say  that  they  were  pleased  with 
what  they  saw  is  putting  it  mildly.  Lord 
Dufferin  declared  he  would  treasure  their 
address  of  welcome  above  all  others  he  re- 
ceived during  his  journey.  In  an  address 
to  the  Indians  assembled  in  the  open  air 
on  a  beautiful  summer  day  the  Governor- 
General  said  in  part: 

"I  have  come  a  long  distance  in  order  to 
assure  you,  in  the  name  of  your  Great 
Mother,  the  Queen  of  England,  with  what 
pleasure  she  has  learned  of  your  well-being, 
of  the  progress  you  have  made  in  the  arts 
of  peace  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  under  the  auspices  of  your 
friend,  Mr.  Duncan.  1  have  viewed  with 
astonishment  the  church  which  you  have 
built  entirely  by  your  own  industry  and  in- 
telligence. That  church  is  in  itself  a  monu- 
ment of  the  way  in  which  you  have  profited 
by  the  teachings  you  have  received.  It 
does  you  the  greatest  credit,  and  we  have 


METLAKAHTLA  99 

every  right  to  hope  that,  while  in  its  out- 
ward aspect  it  bears  testimony  to  your  con- 
formity to  the  laws  of  the  Gospel,  beneath 
its  sacred  roof  your  sincere  and  faithful 
prayers  will  be  rewarded  by  those  blessings 
which  are  promised  to  all  those  who  ap- 
proach the  throne  of  God  in  humility  and 
faith  *  *  * 

"Before  I  conclude  T  cannot  help  express- 
ing to  Mr.  Duncan  and  those  associated 
with  him  in  his  good  work,  not  only  in  my 
name,  not  only  in  the  name  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Canada,  but  also  in  the  name  of 
Her  Majesty,  the  Queer,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  people  of  England,  who  take  so  deep 
an  interest  in  the  well-being  of  all  the  na- 
tive races  throughout  the  Queen's  domin- 
ions, our  deep  gratitude  to  him  for  thus 
having  devoted  the  flower  of  his  life,  in 
spite  of  innumerable  difficulties,  dangers 
and  discouragements  to  a  work  which  has 
resulted  in  the  beautif'jl  scene  we  have  wit- 
nessed this  morning.  I  only  wish  to  add 
that  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the 
satisfactory  and  loy;tl  address  with  which 
you  have  greeted  me.  The  very  fact  of 
you  being  in  a  position  to  express  your- 
selves with  so  much  propriety  is  in  itself 
extremely  creditable  to  you,  and  although 
ic  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  receive 
many  addresses  during  my  stay  in  Canada 
from  various  comrmini+ies  of  your  fellow- 
subjects,  i!0t  one  of  thtm  will  be  surround- 
ed by  so  many  hopeful  and  pleasant  rem- 


ioo  METLAKAHTLA 

iniscences  as  those  which  I  shall  carry 
away  with  me  from  this  ^pot." 

But  there  was  one  person  whose  coming 
to  the  island  threw  it  into  a  far  greater 
commotion  of  pleasurable  excitement  than 
even  the  visit  of  the  Governor-General. 
That  person  was  none  other  than  Admiral 
Prevost,  who,  twenty-five  years  before,  as 
Captain  Prevost,  had  been  the  means  of 
starting  the  entire  work.  His  visit  has 
been  well  called  "the  most  joyous  and 
memorable  event  in  the  history  of  the  set- 
tlement." It  was  the  red  letter  day  of  Met- 
lakahtla. 

Throughout  a  quarter  of  a  century  amid 
all  the  dangers  and  perils  of  naval  life  God 
had  preserved  the  gallant  captain,  and  had 
honored  him  enabling  him  to  reach  the  ex- 
alted station  of  Admiral.  During  all  the 
years,  however,  he  had  not  lost  sight  of  the 
glorious  work  he  inaugurated,  and  now  at 
last  he  was  permitted  to  see  with  his  own 
eyes  the  marvelous  results  of  his  early  ef- 
forts. The  Admiral  spent  a  full  month 
among  the  Metlakahtlans,  declaring  that 
words  could  not  describe  the  joy  he  experi- 
enced at  witnessing  their  transformation. 
He  sent  a  graphic  account  of  his  visit  to 
the  Church  Missionary  Society,  part  of 
which  was  as  follows: 

'Three  a.  m.,  Tuesday,  i8th  June,  1878. 
Arrived  at  Fort  Simpson  in  the  United 
States  Mail  Steamer  California,  from  Sit- 
ka.  Was  met  by  William  Duncan  with  six- 


102  METLAKAHTLA 

teen  Indians,  nearly  all  elders.  Our  greet- 
ing was  most  hearty,  and  the  meeting  with 
Duncan  was  a  cause  of  real  thankfulness  to 
God,  in  sight,  too,  of  the  very  spot  (nay  on 
it)  where  God  had  put  into  my  heart  the 
first  desire  of  sending  the  Gospel  to  the 
poor  heathen  around  me.  Twenty-five 
years  previously  H.  M.  S.  Virago  had  been 
repaired  on  that  very  beach.  What  a 
change  had  been  effected  during  those 
passing  years!  Of  the  crew  before  me 
nine  of  the  sixteen  were,  to  my  knowledge, 
formerly  medicine  men  or  cannibals.  In 
humble  faith,  we  could  only  exclaim,  'What 
hath  God  wrought!'  It  is  all  His  doing, 
and  it  is  marvelous  in  our  eyes. 

"It  did  notetake  long  to  transfer  ourselves 
and  our  baggage  to  the  canoe  and  at  4:30 
a.  m.  we  started  against  wind  and  tide, 
lain,  too,  at  intervals;  but  having  much  to 
talk  about  of  past  events  and  future  plans 
the  twenty  miles  of  distance  soon  disap- 
peared and  about  noon  we  crossed  the  bar 
and  entered  the  'inlet  of  Kahtla.'  On  the 
north  side  of  the  inlet  stands  on  an  emi- 
nence 'the  church  of  God;'  on  either  side 
of  it  spreads  out  the  village  of  Metlakaht- 
la,  skirting  two  bays  whose  beaches  are  at 
once  a  landing-place  for  its  inhabitants 
and  a  shelter  for  the  canoes.  As  we  ap- 
proached the  landing-place  two  guns  were 
fired  and  flags  displayed  from  house  to 
house — conspicuous  by  a  string  of  them 
reaching  the  Mission  House  verandah,  in- 


METLAKAHTLA  103 

scribed,  'A  Real  Welcome  to  Metlakahtla.' 
Near  to  this  were  assembled  all  the  village 
— men,  women  and  children — gaily  dressed. 

"After  twenty-five  years'  absence  God 
had  brought  me  back  again  amidst,  all  the 
sundry  and  manifold  changes  of  the  world, 
face  to  face  with  those  tribes  amongst 
whom  I  had  before  witnessed  only  blood- 
shed, cannibalism  and  heathen  deviltry  in  its 
grossest  form.  Now  they  were  sitting  at 
the  feet  of  Jesus,  clothed,  and  in  their  right 
mind.  The  very  church-warden,  dear  old 
Peter  Simpson,  who  opened  the  church- 
door  for  me,  was  once  the  chief  of  one  of 
the  cannibal  tribes  *  *  * 

"Be  I  ore  my  departure  from  Metlakahtla 
I  assembled  the  fe\v  who  were  left  at  the 
village,  to  tell  them  I  was  anxious  to  leave 
behind  some  token  both  of  my  visit  to 
them  after  so  long  an  absence,  and  also 
that  I  still  bore  them  on  my  heart.  What 
should  it  be?  After  hours  of  consultation, 
they  decided  they  would  leave  the  choice 
to  me,  and  when  I  told  them  (what  I  had 
beforehand  determined  upon)  that  my  pres- 
ent would  be  a  set  of  street  lamps  to  light 
up  their  village  by  night,  their  joy  was  un- 
bounded. Their  first  thought  had  a  spirit- 
ual meaning.  By  day,  God's  house  was  a 
memorable  object,  visible  both  by  vessels 
passing  and  repassing,  and  by  all  canoes  as 
strange  Indians  traveled  about;  but  by 
night  all  had  been  darkness,  now  this  was 
no  longer  so — as  the  bright  light  of  the 


104  METLAKAHTLA 

glorious  Gospel  had  through  God's  mercy 
and  love  shined  into  their  dark  hearts,  so 
would  all  be  reminded  by  night  as  well  as  by 
day,  of  the  marvelous  light  shining  into  the 
hearts  of  many  at  Metlakahtla." 

But  tne  narrative  of  the  Admiral's  visit 
would  by  no  means  be  complete  without 
relating  the  sequel  to  the  beautiful  action 
which  haa  occurred  on  the  Queen  Char- 
lotte Islands  a  quarter  of  a  century  pre- 
viously. One  day  a  well  built  canoe  con- 
taining two  stalwart  Indians  was  seen  ap- 
proaching Metlakahtla.  When  the  occu- 
pants landed  they  proved  to  be  Edensaw, 
the  head  chief  of  the  Hydahs,  and  his  son. 
They  had  heard  of  Admiral  Prevost's  visit 
and  had  made  the  long  journey  through  the 
open  sea  to  see  his  face  once  more.  Their 
meeting  with  the  Admiral  presented  a  beau- 
tiful scene,  which  reached  its  climax  when 
Edensaw  put  his  hand  into  his  bosom  and 
drew  forth  a  little  book  which  he  handed 
to  the  Admiral.  The  heart  of  the  venerable 
commander  overflowed  with  wonder  and 
praise  to  God  when  he  saw  written  on  the 
fly-leaf  these  lines:  "From  Captain  Pre- 
vost,  IT.  M.  S.  'Satellite,'  trusting  that  the 
bread  thus  cast  upon  the  waters  may  be 
found  after  many  days." 

Truly  it  had  been  found  after  'many 
days'  indeed!  The  son  of  Edensaw  was  an 
earnest  Christian — the  first  person  among 
the  Hydahs  to  come  out  boldly  on  the 
Lord's  side.  Edensaw  himself  was  con- 


METLAKAHTLA  105 

vinced  that  Christianity  was  the  right  way, 
but  lie  was  a  proud  man  and  had  not  yet 
been  willing  to  sacrifice  his  power  and 
wealth  as  chieftain  in  order  to  follow  Christ. 
But  who  can  estimate  the  part  played  by 
that  small  testament  in  preparing  the 
heart  of  the  son  to  receive  the  Gospel? 
Doubtless  scores  of  times  as  a  boy  he  had 
heard  his  father  relate  the  story  of  how  he 
received'The  Letter  of  God"from  the  great 
white  Chief,  and  he  had  without  doubt 
longed  earnestly  to  know  the  meaning  of 
the  message  contained  in  the  strange  Eng- 
lish b'jok.  Hence  when  the  missionary 
came  to  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  it  was 
natural  that  the  son  of  Edensaw  should  be 
the  first  convert. 

And  now  once  more  in  this  world,  father 
and  son  stood  'face  to  face*  with  their  spir- 
itual benefactor,  after  a  full  quarter  of  a 
century  had  passed,  whitening  the  hair  of 
the  Admiral  and  bringing  wrinkles  into  the 
face  of  the  old  chief.  It  was  a  memorable 
meeting  worthy  of  the  brush  of  a  great 
painter.  It  was  a  strange  and  wonderful 
illustration  of  the  glorious  fruitage  that  re- 
sults in  the  far  distant  future  from  the 
good  little  deeds  of  today. 
*  *  * 

But  eie  long  the  idyllic  life  of  the  colony 
was  to  be  shattered  to  pieces,  only  to  spring 
up  again  more  beautiful  than  ever  on  an 
isle  of  paradise  under  the  glorious  banner 
of  the  stars  and  stripes. 


CHAPTER   X. 
IN   QUEST   OF  A   NEW   HOME. 

EARLY  in  the  eighties  when  the 
Christian  colony  was  in  the  full 
bloom  of  its  vigor  and  prosperity  a 
cloud  appeared  on  the  horizon,  which  grew 
larger  with  each  passing  year  until  the 
Metlakahtlans  finally  left  their  dearly  loved 
island,  and,  in  company  with  Mr.  Duncan, 
set  out  in  search  of  a  new  home.  The  trou- 
ble began  soon  after  the  death  of  the  great 
Henry  Venn,  secretary  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  who  had  most  heartily  ap- 
proved of  Mr.  Duncan's  methods  and  plans 
for  the  conversion  and  education  of  the  In- 
dians. Following  his  decease,  however,  a 
Missionary  Bishop  was  appointed  to  over- 
see the  work  at  Metlakahtla  and  other  mis- 
sions in  British  Columbia.  He  decided  that 
the  Indians  should  conform  more  closely  to 
the  customs  of  the  Church  of  England; 
that  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  instituted 
with  the  use  of  real  wine  in  the  service; 
and  that  much  of  the  ritual  and  ceremony 
of  the  English  church  should  be  introduced 
among  the  red  men.  Mr.  Duncan  strongly 
objected  to  these  changes.  He  knew  the 
inordinate  passion  of  the  Indian  for  intox- 
icants and  felt  it  would  be  wrong  to  use 
fermented  wine  in  the  communion  service; 

106 


METLAKAHTLA  107 

while  in  addition  the  law  of  Canada  prohib- 
ited any  Indian  from  touching  wine  under 
penalty  of  imprisonment. 

In  regard  to  the  elaborate  ritual  of  the 
Church,  of  England,  Mr.  Duncan  believed 
it  entirely  unsuited  to  the  worship  of  the 
Indians,  and  felt  that  if  introduced  it  would 
seriously  weaken  and  undermine  their  spir- 
itual life. 

The  Bishop,  however,  still  insisted  on  the 
changes  being  made.  But  Mr.  Duncan  was 
accustomed  to  adhering  to  principle  at 
whatever  cost,  and  rather  than  submit  to 
what  he  believed  was  wrong,  he  left  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  and  started  an 
Independent  Native  Church.  All  but  a  few 
of  the  Indians  at  Metlakahtla  followed  him 
and  joined  the  new  church.  The  Mission- 
ary Society,  on  the  advice  of  its  Bishop, 
but  against  that  of  several  of  its  mission- 
aries in  the  vicinity,  still  continued  to  carry 
on  a  mission  among  the  few  who  remain- 
ed, and  claimed  the  ownership  of  the  two 
most  central  acres  of  land  in  the  village  on 
which  the  mission  buildings  stood.  The 
Canadian  Government  supported  the  So- 
ciety in  this  claim,  to  the  Indians'  aston- 
ishment and  dismay,  for  the  land  had  been 
theirs  for  ages  past. 

Mr.  Duncan  and  his  followers  carefully 
considered  the  situation  and  rather  than 
have  discord  and  disunion  in  their  Arcadia 
determined  to  set  out  for  the  second  time 
in  quest  of  a  new  home. 


io8  METLAKAHTLA 

A  short  time  later  a  band  of  Metlakaht- 
lans  set  out  in  their  canoes  in  search  of  an- 
other island  upon  which  they  could  erect  a 
new  and  more  beautiful  Christian  city. 
They  went  northward  into  Alaska,  explor- 
ing the  land  carefully  as  they  went.  At 
last,  about  one  hundred  miles  north  of  Met- 
lakahtla,  they  found  an  island  which  even 
surpassed  the  old  one  in  beauty  and  natural 
advantages.  When  the  Indians  saw  it  they 
unanimously  exclaimed  that  they  would 
look  no  farther,  for  it  was  certainly  an  isle 
of  paradise  they  had  found,  with  its  mar- 
velously  beautiful  harbor,  its  virgin  forests, 
its  purple  mountains,  and  its  silvery  water- 
fall. As  the  scouts  approached  Metlakaht- 
la  on  their  return,  they  signalized  the  suc- 
cess of  their  mission  by  singing  the  "Ca- 
noe-song," the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  na- 
tive melodies. 

Mr.  Duncan  now  started  for  Washington 
to  secure  permission  from  the  United 
States  Government  to  settle  on  the  land. 
The  case  of  the  Metlakahtlans  was  care- 
fully considered  by  President  Cleveland,  the 
secretaries  of  the  Interior  and  Treasury, 
the  Attorney-General  and  others.  Many 
distinguished  people  earnestly  seconded  the 
cause  of  the  Indians,  among  them  being  the 
Governor  of  Alaska,  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
and  Dr.  Sheldon  Jackson. 

By  the  advice  of  the  Attorney-General, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  finally  de- 
cided that  the  Metlakahtlans  could  settle 


METLAKAHTLA  109 

upon  any  unoccupied  land  in  Alaska,  but 
that  no  reservation  could  be  set  aside  for 
them,  as  land  laws  for  the  territory  had  not 
yet  been  made.  He  also  declared  that  when 
Alaskan  land  laws  should  be  formed  "am- 
ple provision  will  be  made  to  meet  the  ne- 
cessities of  all  law-abiding  inhabitants." 

With  this  assurance  of  fair  treatment 
from  the  United  States,  Mr.  Duncan  was 
fully  satisfied.  He  mailed  the  good  news 
to  the  Indians  and  during  the  summer  of 
1887  a  small  number  of  them  journeyed 
northward  in  their  canoes  to  fell  the  forest 
and  prepare  the  way  for  the  remainder. 
On  the  7th  of  August,  Mr.  Duncan  reached 
the  new  island,  having  been  absent  in  the 
United  States  nearly  nine  months.  His 
welcome  was  most  hearty  as  he  stepped 
upon  the  beach  of  the  New  Metlakahtla, 
which  was  to  be  the  future  home  of  the  col- 
ony. A  memorable  service,  like  that  the 
Pilgrims  must  have  held  on  landing  at 
Plymouth  Rock,  was  at  once  arranged, 
which  a  newspaper  correspondent  who  was 
present  described  graphically  as  follows: 

"The  day  was  a  perfect  one  and  the  visit- 
ors were  at  once  put  on  shore.  A  more 
lovely  place  than  this  harbor  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  imagine.  It  is  semi-circular  in  shape, 
opening  out  through  a  number  of  small  is- 
lands to  the  westward.  On  the  east  and 
north  were  wild,  rugged  mountains,  com- 
ing down  to  the  water's  edge,  and  on  the 
south  is  a  low,  green  shore  skirted  by  a 


i  io  METLAKAHTLA 

gravel  beach  that  winds  in  and  out  in 
beautiful  curves.  The  place  was  entirely 
uninhabited  except  by  thirty  or  forty  of  the 
men  of  Metlakahtla  with  their  families  who 
had  come  on  as  an  advance  guard.  The  re- 
mainder, in  all  about  one  thousand  people, 
men,  women  and  children,  will  come  as 
soon  as  provision  can  be  made  for  them 
and  the  means  of  transportation  shall  ar- 
rive. 

"The  exercises  were  impromptu  and  Mr. 
Duncan  first  addressed  his  people  in  their 
native  tongue.  He  told  them  of  his  trip 
to  the  United  States,  and  concluded  by  in- 
troducing Hon.  N.  H.  R.  Dawson,  the  U. 
S.  Commissioner  of  Education  then  upon 
an  official  tour  of  Alaska,  who  had  kindly 
consented  to  make  an  address  upon  this 
occasion.  In  Mr.  Dawson's  address,  in- 
terpreted by  Mr.  Duncan  into  the  native 
language  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  did 
not  understand  English,  they  were  impres- 
sively told  of  the  power  and  glory  of  the 
great  American  Government,  under  whose 
protection  they  were  coming,  and  were  as- 
sured that  when  its  flag  was  raised  over 
them,  they  would  be  protected  in  their 
lives  and  liberties,  that  their  homes  and 
lands  would  be  assured  to  them,  and  that 
their  education  and  welfare  would  be  the 
cherished  care  of  the  great  Government, 
to  which  they  had  intrusted  themselves. 

"When  he  concluded,  the  flags  were  rais- 
ed, the  ship  saluting  them  as  they  went  up 


ii2  METLAKAHTLA 

with  its  battery  of  one  gun.  The  natives 
then  sang  'Rock  of  Ages'  exquisitely  in 
their  native  tongue.  Rev.  Dr.  Eraser  of 
San  Francisco,  in  a  touching  prayer,  then 
commended  the  new  settlement  to  the  pro- 
tection of  Divine  Providence,  after  which 
all  united  in  singing  'Coronation.'  One  of 
the  principal  chiefs  or  selectmen,  Daniel 
Ne-ash-kum-ack-kem,  then  replied  to  Mr. 
Dawson's  address  in  a  short  speech  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  'Chiefs,  I  have  a  few  words  of  truth  to 
let  you  know  what  our  hearts  are  saying. 
The  God  of  Heaven  is  looking  at  our  do- 
ings here  today.  You  have  stretched  out 
your  hands  to  the  Tsimsheans.  Your  act 
is  a  Christian  act.  We  have  long  been 
knocking  at  the  door  of  another  govern- 
ment for  justice,  but  the  door  has  been 
closed  against  us.  You  have  risen  up  and 
opened  your  door  to  us,  and  bid  us  wel- 
come to  this  beautiful  spot,  upon  which  we 
propose  to  erect  our  homes.  What  can 
our  hearts  say  to  this,  but  that  we  are 
thankful  and  happy.  The  work  of  the 
Christian  is  never  lost.  Your  work  will 
not  be  lost  to  you.  It  will  live,  and  you 
will  find  it  after  many  days.  We  are  here 
only  a  few  today  who  have  been  made 
happy  by  your  words;  but  when  your  words 
reach  all  of  our  people,  numbering  over  a 
thousand,  how  much  more  joy  will  they  oc- 
casion. *  *  *  We  come  to  you  for  pro- 
tection and  safety.  Our  hearts,  though 


METLAKAHTLA  113 

often  troubled  have  not  fainted.  We  have 
trusted  in  God,  and  He  has  helped  us.  We 
are  now  able  to  sleep  in  peace.  Our  con- 
fidence is  restored.  God  has  given  us  His 
strength  to  reach  this  place  of  security  and 
freedom,  and  we  are  grateful  to  Him  for 
His  mercy  and  loving  kindness.  We  again 
salute  you  from  our  hearts.  I  have  no 
more  to  say.' 

"At  the  conclusion  of  this  reply,  which 
was  delivered  in  the  musical  intonations  of 
his  native  tongue,  with  a  grace  and  elo- 
quence that  did  credit  to  the  picturesque 
forum  in  which  he  stood,  Dr.  Eraser  gave 
the  benediction." 

During  the  autumn  of  1887  the  remaind- 
er of  the  colonists  removed  to  their  new 
home,  and  throughout  the  following  winter 
and  spring  building  preparations  went  rap- 
idly forward.  Mr.  Duncan  drew  up  a  beau- 
tiful design  for  the  streets  and  homes  and 
public  buildings  of  the  new  village,  so  that 
it  should  be  a  model  city  in  every  respect. 
A  new  set  of  rules,  or  declaration  of  prin- 
ciples, was  also  drawn  up  in  harmony  with 
the  present  enlightened  character  of  the 
people.  It  read  as  follows: 

"We,  the  people  of  Metlakahtla,  Alaska, 
in  order  to  secure  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity  the  blessings  of  a  Christian  home, 
do  severally  subscribe  to  the  following 
rules  for  the  regulation  of  our  conduct  and 
town  affairs: 

"i.  To  reverence  the  Sabbath  and  to  re- 


ii4  METLAKAHTLA 

frain  from  all  unnecessary  secular  work  on 
that  day;  to  attend  Divine  Worship;  to 
take  the  Bible  for  our  rule  of  faith;  to  re- 
gard all  true  Christians  as  our  brethren, 
and  to  be  truthful,  honest  and  industrious. 

"2.  To  be  faithful  and  loyal  to  the  Gov- 
ernment and  laws  of  the  United  States. 

"3.  To  render  our  votes  when  called 
upon  for  the  election  of  the  Town  Council, 
and  to  promptly  obey  the  by-laws  and  or- 
ders imposed  by  the  said  council. 

"4.  To  attend  to  the  education  of  our 
children  and  keep  them  at  school  as  regu- 
larly as  possible. 

"5.  To  totally  abstain  from  all  intoxi- 
cants and  gambling,  and  never  attend  heath- 
en festivities  or  countenance  heathen  cus- 
toms in  surrounding  villages. 

"6.  To  strictly  carry  out  all  sanitary 
regulations  necessary  for  the  health  of  the 
town. 

"7.  T,o  identify  ourselves  with  the  prog- 
ress of  the  settlement,  and  to  utilize  the 
land  we  hold. 

"8.  Never  to  alienate — give  away — or  sell 
our  land,  or  building  lots,  or  any  portion 
thereof,  to  any  person  or  persons  who 
have  not  subscribed  to  these  rules." 

In  the  land  of  the  free,  in  the  midst  of  un- 
surpassed natural  landscape,  a  new  and 
more  beautiful  village  sprang  into  existence 
under  the  skilled  and  willing  hands  of  Mr. 
Duncan,  and  his  devoted  followers.  A  sal- 
mon cannery  and  saw-mill  were  erected, 


METLAKAHTLA  115 

numerous  stores  opened,  and  after  months 
of  faithful  and  loving  toil  a  large  and  beau- 
tiful church  was  built.  Peace  and  joy  dwelt 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people;  industry,  puri- 
ty and  harmony  guarded  the  homes;  and 
the  spot  became  indeed  Paradise  Island,  a 
bit  of  the  garden  of  Eden  regained. 

Sixteen  years  after  the  foundation  of  the 
new  village  it  was  the  good  fortune  of  the 
writer  to  make  a  3,000  mile  journey  across 
the  continent  and  up  into  the  Northland, 
solely  to  obtain  the  strange  and  inspiring 
history  of  these  red  men  and  to  observe 
their  present  condition.  The  story  of  the 
journey  and  of  some  of  the  remarkable 
things  seen  and  heard  at  Metlakahtla  will 
next  be  related. 


CHAPTER  XL 
ON  THE  ISLE  OF  PARADISE. 

AS  the  Queen  of  Sheba  traveled  far 
to  pay  a  visit  to  the  court  of  King 
Solomon  to  see  for  herself  the  mar- 
vels of  which  she  had  heard  so  much,  so  the 
writer  made  a  round -trip  journey  of  6,000 
miles  to  see  the  wonderful  model  city  of 
Metlakahtla  inhabited  by  red  men,  who 
yesterday  were  wild  savages,  today  are 
well-dressed  exemplary  Christians.  The 
trip  from  Chicago  occupied  nine  days. 
Leaving  the  inland  metropolis  on  Monday 
evening  the  writer  reached  Seattle  Friday 
afternoon,  and  the  following  day  arrived  at 
Victoria,  the  old  English  city  on  Vancouver 
Island,  which  is  so  frequently  mentioned  in 
our  narrative.  Here  I  saw  the  naval  sta- 
tion which  was  the  headquarters  of  Admiral 
Prevost  half  a  century  previous,  and  called 
upon  the  venerable  Bishop  Cridge,  who  en- 
tertained Mr.  Duncan  upon  his  arrival  in 
the  city  in  1857,  and  has  ever  since  been  a 
staunch  friend  and  warm  supporter.  A  de- 
lightful Sunday  was  spent  in  this  quaint 
English  city  where  the  Sabbath  is  observed 
far  better  than  in  the  United  States.  Early 
Monday  morning  I  embarked  on  the  swift 
steamer,  "Cottage  City,"  and  for  two  days, 
as  we  sped  northward,  enjoyed  a  changing 

116 


METLAKAHTLA  117 

panorama  of  sea  and  land  scenery  which 
is  probably  unparalleled  on  the  North 
American  continent.  At  five-thirty  Wed- 
nesday morning  we  reached  Ketchikan, 
Alaska,  a  gold-mining  town  fifteen  miles 
from  Metlakahtla,  where  it  was  necessary 
to  change  steamers.  It  proved  to  be  a 
typical  frontier  village  with  less  than  a 
thousand  inhabitants  and  eight  saloons 
into  whose  coffers,  I  was  informed,  went 
two-thirds  of  the  wages  of  the  miners. 

But  fortunately  I  had  not  long  to  wait  in 
the  town.  At  nine  a.  m.  a  large  steamer 
approached,  which  proved  to  be  "The  Dol- 
phin," carrying  the  United  States  Sena- 
torial Committee  of  five  members,  appoint- 
ed to  inspect  Alaska  for  the  purpose  of 
framing  laws  for  the  territory.  The  vessel 
was  just  returning  from  a  special  visit  to 
New  Metlakahtla  to  enable  the  committee 
to  see  the  famous  Indian  settlement  and 
to  obtain  Mr.  Duncan's  views  on  the  needs 
of  Alaska.  As  the  ship  touched  the  dock  I 
hastened  on  board  and  greeted  Senator 
Dillingham,  chairman  of  the  committee, 
whom  I  had  met  in  Seattle  a  few  days  pre- 
vious. He  took  me  into  the  captain's 
cabin  and  there  introduced  me  to  the  man  I 
had  come  three  thousand  miles  to  see — 
William  Duncan!  And  yet,  could  it  be  pos- 
sible that  the  vivacious,  ruddy-faced  man 
with  whom  I  was  shaking  hands  was  the 
missionary  who  had  spent  forty-six  years  of 
toil  and  privation  among  the  red  men? 


ii8  METLAKAHTLA 

His  hair  and  beard  were  white,  but  at  sev- 
enty-two years  of  age  he  had  the  energy 
and  vigor  of  mind  and  body  of  a  man  of 
fifty. 

Mr.  Duncan  had  come  from  Metlakahtla 
to  Ketchikan  as  the  guest  of  the  Senator- 
ial party,  and  was  accompanied  by  two 
leading  members  of  the  Indian  community, 
Mr.  John  Tait  and  Edward  K.  Mathers. 
After  several  hours  of  waiting  the  luxuri- 
ous excursion  steamer  "Spokane"  reached 
Ketchikan  on  its  way  to  Metlakahtla, 
which  it  visits  on  every  trip  to  Alaska,  and 
Mr.  Duncan,  the  Indians,  and  myself,  were 
soon  speeding  rapidly  toward  the  village, 
whose  fame  has  reached  round  the  world. 

As  we  came  into  the  bay — which  I  have 
never  seen  equaled  for  beauty  at  home  or 
abroad — and  beheld  the  quiet,  peaceful  vil- 
lage, set  like  a  jewel  between  the  blue  sea 
and  the  purple  mountains,  I  was  filled  with 
amazement  and  awe  and  could  only  in- 
wardly exclaim:  "Fifty  years  ago  savages 
and  today  this!"  What  a  tremendous 
power  is  contained  in  the  Gospel!  No  other 
force  on  earth  or  above  or  beneath  it  could 
have  transformed  those  savage  tribes  into 
that  tranquil  Indian  village!  Truly  I  was 
looking  upon  a  modern  miracle  of  the  Gos- 
pel and  it  was  marvelous  beyond  the  power 
of  description. 

Eleven  delightful  days  I  spent  at  Met- 
lakahtla as  the  guest  of  Mr.  Duncan. 
Needless  to  state,  there  is  no  saloon  on  the 


METLAKAHTLA  119 

island,  and  during  my  entire  stay  I  saw  no 
one  intoxicated  and  heard  no  profane  nor 
angry  word!  Instead,  a  spirit  of  peace  and 
quiet  contentment  broods  over  the  island 
and  fills  the  heart  with  satisfaction,  and  one 
realizes  as  never  before  of  what  little  ac- 
count are  the  riches  and  honors  of  the 
world  compared  with  the  true  riches  of  liv- 
ing right  with  God! 

The  village  lies  on  a  right-angled  point 
of  land  so  that  two  sides  of  it  face  the  sea. 
The  houses  of  the  Indians  are  on  the  aver- 
age considerably  finer  than  those  in  an 
American  village  of  eight  hundred  inhabi- 
tants. They  are  mainly  two  stories  in 
height,  plentifully  supplied  with  windows 
and  usually  have  a  verandah.  The  village 
sidewalks  are  wide  and  well  built. 

Trie  church  stands  on  an  eminence  just 
at  the  back  of  the  village  and  is  far  the 
most  handsome  and  pretentious  building  in 
the  town.  It  was  constructed  entirely  by 
the  Indians  themselves  under  Mr.  Duncan's 
direction.  The  interior  is  finished  in  spruce 
and  cedar,  and  the  large  arched  auditorium, 
capable  of  seating  over  seven  hundred  peo- 
ple, is  most  impressive.  The  handsome 
pews  and  ornamental  puloit,  with  the  paint- 
ing of  the  Angels  at  Bethlehem  above  the 
pulpit, — indeed,  everything  save  the  pipe  or- 
gan, is  the  result  of  native  handicraft.  The 
church  is  the  largest  in  Alaska  and  has  fitly 
been  called  'The  Westminster  of  the  In- 
dians." 


120  METLAKAHTLA 

The  combined  school  house  and  town 
hall  stands  next  to  the  church,  and  has  the 
unique  distinction  of  being  equipped  with 
a  gymnasium.  Next  to  the  school  house  is 
a  commodious  building  designed  for  a  boy's 
home  or  boarding  school,  and  next  that  a 
girl's  boarding  school.  At  present  there 
are  only  nine  girls  in  the  school,  but  it  is 
expected  the  number  will  be  shortly  in- 
creased to  fifteen  or  more. 

The  two  most  important  industries  in  the 
village  are  the  salmon  cannery  and  the  saw- 
mill. During  a  recent  season  the  former 
turned  out  over  800,000  cans  of  salmon, 
while  the  latter  employs  a  considerable 
number  of  people  the  year  round.  If  any 
of  our  readers  wish  a  good  can  of  salmon 
and  at  the  same  time  a  souvenir  from  Met- 
lakahtla  let  them  ask  their  grocer  for  sal- 
mon put  up  by  "The  Metlakahtla  Industrial 
Company."  The  chief  occupations  of  the 
800  inhabitants  are  salmon  fishing  in  the 
summer  and  logging  in  the  winter.  There 
are  nine  stores  in  the  town,  the  largest 
being  owned  by  Mr.  Duncan,  the  other 
eight  by  natives.  The  saw-mill  and  most 
of  the  stock  of  the  salmon  cannery  are  also 
owned  by  Mr.  Duncan,  some  of  the  shares, 
however,  being  held  by  the  Indians.  There 
is  no  doubt  but  that  Mr.  Duncan  is  simply 
acting  as  trustee  for  the  people  in  con- 
ducting these  enterprises  and  that  at  his 
decease  the  profits,  if  there  be  any  left, 
will  be  given  to  the  village.  Today  Mr. 


122  METLAKAHTLA 

Duncan  pays  the  salary  of  his  assistants 
in  the  work,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Boyd,  and  sup- 
ports the  girls'  school,  which  is  conducted 
by  the  doctor  and  his  wife.  Last  year,  as 
previously,  Mr.  Duncan  personally  taught 
the  public  school,  in  addition  to  all  his 
other  duties,  but  he  finds  the  burden  very 
severe  and  is  desirous  of  securing  a  young 
minister  and  his  wife  to  undertake  this 
work  and  to  assist  in  the  spiritual  training 
of  the  people. 

Mr.  Duncan  is  still  the  active  pastor  of 
the  church,  serving  without  salary.  He 
preaches  twice  on  Sunday,  conducts  the 
children's  Sunday  School,  and  the  mid- 
week prayer-meeting.  He  is  also  the  spir- 
itual and  temporal  adviser  and  counselor 
of  his  people,  and  his  office,  where  he 
spends  many  hours  daily  as  active  man- 
ager of  the  cannery,  saw-mill  and  store,  is 
the  natural  resort  of  anyone  in  trouble  or 
difficulty.  I  spent  considerable  time  with  Mr. 
Duncan  in  his  office,  and  sometimes  there 
would  be  a  stream  of  callers  which  would 
occupy  his  attention  for  hours  together. 

The  home  life  of  the  people  is  beautiful 
and  affectionate.  Among  strangers  they 
appear  stolid,  for  they  hide  their  feelings, 
but  among  themselves  they  are  often  most 
lively  and  gay.  I  saw  considerable  of  the 
nine  girls  in  the  boarding  school,  and  they 
were  constantly  bubbling  over  with  fun  of 
some  sort  and  frequent  bursts  of  hearty, 
wholesome  laughter  filled  the  air.  Some  of 


METLAKAHTLA  123 

the  homes  are  furnished  very  attractively, 
two  houses  in  the  village  containing  pianos. 
The  energy  and  natural  talents  of  the 
people  are  amazing.  Many  of  them  earn 
double  wages  by  doing  double  work.  For 
example,  the  blacksmith  at  the  cannery, 
Mr.  Edward  K.  Mathers,  works  at  night  at 
his  home  carving  queer  figures  on  silver 
spoons.  Going  to  the  native  stores  on 
several  occasions  I  found  them  locked,  un- 
til I  discovered  that  the  proprietors  worked 
at  the  cannery  or  saw-mill  during  the  day, 
and  opened  their  shops  after  a  hasty  sup- 
per in  the  evening.  The  village  photo- 
grapher, Benjamin  A.  Haldane,  does  not 
hesitate  to  work  in  the  cannery  when  it  is 
running  and  looks  after  his  picture-mak- 
ing and  developing  after  or  before  working 
hours.  Mr.  Haldane  is  a  versatile  and  tal- 
ented young  man.  In  addition  to  being  an 
excellent  photographer,  he  is  leader  of  the 
village  band,  and  plays  the  pipe  organ  in 
the  church.  One  of  the  two  pianos  in  the 
town  is  in  his  home,  and  one  evening  he 
displayed  much  skill  in  playing  several  diffi- 
cult selections  for  my  entertainment.  It 
is  typical  of  the  people  that  they  learn  any 
art  or  trade  with  astonishing  ease  and  ra- 
pidity. There  are  several  excellent  silver- 
smiths in  the  village,  and  at  least  one  skilled 
wood  carver.  In  addition  most  of  the  older 
women  weave  handsome  baskets  out  of  a 
certain  kind  of  bark  which  find  a  ready 
sale  to  tourists. 


124  METLAKAHTLA 

The  two  Sundays  spent  in  Metlakahtla 
were  red  letter  days  in  my  experience.  On 
Sabbath  morning  all  is  peace  and  quiet 
throughout  the  village,  and  the  spirit  of 
worship  permeates  the  atmosphere  as 
strongly  as  the  spirit  of  gladness  fills  the 
air  of  our  land  at  Christmas-tide.  At  ten 
o'clock  I  stood  on  the  church  steps  and 
watched  the  streams  of  people  coming  from 
different  directions,  all  converging  at  the 
church  door.  They  were  dressed  in  the 
bright  colors  they  love,  and  the  sight  of 
the  happy  people  and  the  quiet  village,  with 
the  sea  and  mountains  for  a  background, 
made  one  of  the  most  beautiful  pictures  I 
have  ever  seen.  I  was  especially  struck 
with  the  large  number  of  Indian  boys  and 
girls  who  accompanied  their  parents  to 
church,  and  with  the  sight  of  the  very  aged 
coming  to  the  House  of  God  as  long  as 
they  were  able  to  walk.  One  old  woman, 
probably  nearly  or  quite  ninety  years  of 
age,  bent  over  a  large  staff  as  she  slowly 
approached  the  church.  After  going  up  a 
couple  of  steps  she  sat  down  to  rest 
awhile,  and  then  found  strength  to  enter 
the  building  and  worship  her  Creator. 

Part  of  the  church  service  was  in  the  na- 
tive Tsimshean  language  and  part  in  Eng- 
lish. Following  the  organ  voluntary  play- 
ed by  Mr.  Haldane,  came  a  song  in  soft, 
flowing  Tsimshean  accents.  Mr.  Duncan 
then  offered  prayer  in  Tsimshean,  at  the 
close  of  which  all  repeated  the  Lord's 


METLAKAHTLA  125 

Prayer  in  the  native  tongue.  The  beauti- 
ful song,  "He  Leadeth  Me,"  was  next  sung 
in  English  by  the  congregation,  followed 
by  a  short  prayer  in  our  language  by  Mr. 
Duncan.  A  passage  of  Scripture  was  then 
read  in  English  by  Mr.  Duncan,  followed 
by  the.  sermon,  which  is  always  delivered 
in  the  native  tongue.  A  short  prayer  in 
Tsimshean  closed  the  service,  an  organ 
postlude  being  played  as  the  people  passed 
out  of  the  church.  The  order  of  service 
in  the  evening  varies  little  from  that  in  the 
morning. 

But  two  services  during  the  whole  of  the 
Sabbath  day  cannot  at  all  satisfy  the  en- 
ergetic Indians.  At  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  they  gather  in  the  church  again 
for  an  "Adult  Sunday  School,"  the  chil- 
dren's Sunday  School  being  held  in  the 
school  house.  Here  there  are  often  more 
than  twenty  classes  all  taught  by  native 
teachers. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Sunday  School 
Mr.  Mathers,  the  blacksmith  and  silver- 
smith, invited  me  to  attend  a  "Sing  Prac- 
tice" which  he  holds  at  his  home  on  Sun- 
day afternoons.  It  is  an  informal  gather- 
ing of  ten  or  a  dozen  friends  and  neigh- 
bors in  his  parlor  to  learn  and  sing  Gos- 
pel hymns.  I  gladly  accepted  and  greatly 
enjoyed  hearing  the  old  familiar  hymns 
in  a  new  tongue.  Some  of  their  favorite 
songs  are:  "There's  a  Stranger  at  the 
Door,"  "There's  a  Land  That  is  Fairer 


126  METLAKAHTLA 

Than  Day,"  "I  Will  Tell  the  Wondrous 
Story,"  "I  Must  Tell  Jesus,"  "Nearer  the 
Cross." 

Mr.  Mathers  is  an  elder  in  the  church  and 
a  native  evangelist.  Whenever  he  is  away 
fishing  or  on  any  business  he  gathers  the 
people  together  and  preaches  to  them.  One 
day  he  showed  me  a  large  account  book, 
in  which  he  kept  a  record  of  every  preach- 
ing service  he  held  and  of  every  prayer- 
meeting  or  sing-practice  he  led.  The  rec- 
ord was  headed  thus:  "Record  of  God's 
Work  Done  by  E.  K.  Mathers,  Lay  Preach- 
er." He  set  down  accurately  the  date, 
place  and  number  of  people  at  each  meet- 
ing. 

There  are  sixteen  elders  in  the  Metla- 
kahtla  church  and  each  gladly  grasps  the 
opportunity  to  preach  and  exhort  when 
he  is  absent  from  the  island  and  can 
gather  a  few  Indians  together.  Family 
worship  is  held  in  most  of  the  homes,  and 
daily  Bible  reading  is  the  rule.  I  asked 
one  young  man  how  he  read  the  Bible,  and 
he  said  it  was  his  custom  to  read  it  through 
yearly,  reading  three  chapters  each  week 
day  and  five  on  Sunday. 

One  of  the  wisest  and  most  devout  men 
now  living  at  Metlakahtla  is  Mr.  John 
Tait.  He  is  over  sixty  years  of  age,  was 
one  of  Mr.  Duncan's  early  converts  and 
has  been  one  of  his  staunchest  friends  and 
followers. 

One  day  I  asked  Mr.  Duncan  if  he  would 


METLAKAHTLA  127 

again  become  a  missionary  if  he  had  his 
life  to  live  over.  In  reply  he  said:  "I  have 
enjoyed  my  work  and  would  gladly  go 
through  it  again  if  necessary.  Looking 
back  over  my  career  I  have  nothing  to  re- 
gret in  regard  to  my  plans  and  methods  of 
conducting  the  work,  and  if  called  upon  to 
begin  again  would  follow  the  same  pro- 
gram." Mr.  Duncan  believes  all  missions 
would  be  more  successful  if  they  would  fol- 
low the  "Christian  village"  plan.  He  said: 

"I  firmly  believe  that  missionaries  all 
over  the  world  should  adopt  the  Christian 
settlement  plan  of  procedure.  Just  as  soon 
as  a  small  group  of  Christians  have  been 
won  from  heathenism  they  should  remove 
and  form  a  separate  and  distinct  colony. 
The  converts  will  in  that  way  grow  and 
develop  far  better  and  faster  than  when 
living  in  daily  contact  with  all  sorts  of 
vices  common  among  the  heathen. 

"Why,  suppose  I  had  never  removed  my 
people  from  Fort  Simpson,  I  could  never 
have  obtained  the  result  you  see  today  in 
this  village.  In  one  house  there  would  be 
living  a  Christian  family  and  in  the  next  a 
heathen  one.  The  Christians  would  con- 
stantly be  in  trouble,  enduring  slanders  and 
seeing  and  bearing  evil  things  that  would 
mar  the  beauty  of  their  characters. 

"Now,  if  it  were  necessary forthe converts 
to  come  into  daily  contact  with  all  kinds 
of  evil  the  plan  of  separation  would  be  un- 
wise, but  no  good  purpose  is  served  by  it. 


128  METLAKAHTLA 

On  the  contrary  the  departure  of  the  Chris- 
.tian  from  evil  surroundings  has  been  the 
divine  plan  from  the  beginning.  God  call- 
ed Abraham  to  come  out  from  Ur  and  re- 
move to  a  place  where  a  separate  people 
could  be  trained  up  into  holiness.  Again 
the  Children  of  Israel  were  led  out  from 
Egypt  and  given  a  land  where  they  would 
be  separated  from  other  nations  and  where 
they  were  given  an  opportunity  to  become 
a  light  unto  all  the  world." 
*  *  * 

Such  is  the  strange  and  remarkable  story 
of  Metlakahtla.  Its  lessons  of  zeal  and 
heroism,  of  faith  and  devotion,  are  many 
and  inspiring.  If  those  poor  red  men  with 
their  meagre  advantages  can  produce  such 
a  beautiful  Christian  life  in  a  single  gen- 
eration what  ought  not  we  to  be  and  ac- 
complish with  our  countless  advantages 
and  our  generations  of  Christian  ancestors! 

There  are  other  red  men,  and  yellow 
men,  and  black  men,  and  white  men  in  all 
parts  of  the  earth  living  and  dying  without 
the  Gospel.  Let  us  arise  and  carry  the 
news  of  salvation  to  them,  or  help  others 
to  do  so  by  giving  largely  of  our  earnings! 
THE  END. 


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LIBRARY,   UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-Series  458 


N9   914785 


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